Apple will be forced to stop selling its Apple Watch in the US tomorrow over claims the devices run on stolen technology – after a federal court lifted a pause on the ban.
Retailers will be banned from selling the latest Series 9 and Ultra 2 models with blood oxygen functionality, leaving the cheap SE on the shelves.
The order comes after Apple was found to have copied patented medical technology from California-based biotech company Massimo.
A ban on Apple sales was originally scheduled for December 26, but was temporarily lifted a day later after Apple requested a delay for the duration of the appeal process, which is likely to take months.
The order comes as Massimo accuses the tech giant of stealing its technology, which resulted in a previous ban being temporarily lifted.
The legal action only affects Apple Watch sales in the US, which accounted for 42 percent of total North American sales last year.
Although Apple Watch sales are much smaller than those of the iPhone, the device anchors the company’s wearables sales segment, which accounted for $39.84 billion of Apple’s total revenue of $383.29 billion in fiscal 2023.
The Cupertino-based company argued that it was likely to win its appeal and that upholding the ban would be harmful to the company, its suppliers and the public.
The committee countered that Apple’s arguments amount to “little more” than a patent infringer “asking permission to continue infringing.”
US Customs and Border Protection has determined that a proposed redesign from Apple would allow the company to import reconfigured versions of the Series 9 and Ultra 2s without violating International Trade Commission (ITC) restrictions, according to court filings documents.
Apple has not yet publicly detailed the redesign, which could involve an update to the watches’ software.
According to court documents, the tech giant plans to remove the technology from the smartwatches in question in a solution that Masimo has welcomed.
Ben Bajarin, CEO of analyst firm Creative Strategies, said Apple will likely disable the blood oxygen features on the two models rather than stop selling them.
The order comes as Massimo accuses the tech giant of stealing its technology and committing patent infringement. The lawsuit resulted in an earlier ban that was temporarily lifted last month
In October, the ITC announced its ruling, finding that the devices infringed two patents owned by California-based biotech company Masimo.
The ban went into effect on December 24, leaving the decision to the Biden administration, which opted not to veto a ruling on patent infringement.
Apple subsequently filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals in an attempt to pause the ban, which went into effect on December 21, allowing retailers to resume sales.
However, the move was temporary and sales have been halted again.
Massimo CEO Joe Kiani is leading the lawsuit against Apple
A spokesman for Masimo told DailyMail.com last month: ‘Masimo is prepared to reach a settlement. As Joe Kiani (CEO) stated, we believe the way forward is to engage in honest and good faith discussions with Apple to explore the various ways in which the parties can resolve their dispute.”
However, Apple is said to have launched a $17 billion rescue mission, with engineers working to tweak the algorithms that measure blood oxygen.
Details about the exact software changes are unknown, but industry experts speculate that Apple will change the algorithms enough to address patent violations.
However, Masimo’s patents focus on hardware, not software, which emits light on the skin to collect data on blood oxygen levels.
Masimo told Bloomberg that a software fix would not be an adequate solution and that “the hardware needs to change.”
Industry experts told DailyMail.com that the ban could result in a loss of at least $200 million in sales for Apple during the holiday season, but now that amount is likely to increase.
Reports have suggested that if Apple replaces the hardware, the company will need at least three months to produce and ship corrected smartwatches.