On Wednesday, Apple Inc. won a court ruling temporarily in a patent dispute over its medical monitoring technology, which has allowed the company to resume sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models on its website and in its U.S. retail stores.
Apple Resumes Sales Of Watches After U.S. Appeals Court Win
“We are thrilled to return the full Apple Watch lineup to customers in time for the new year,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, including the blood oxygen feature, will become available for purchase again in the United States at Apple Stores starting today and from apple.com tomorrow by 12pm PT.”
The company also announced that the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models will be widely available by Saturday.
For those unaware, in October, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found Apple guilty of violating California-based medical tech firm Masimo’s patents related to its non-invasive blood oxygen sensor technology feature, also known as pulse oximetry. Following this, it banned the Cupertino tech giant from importing and selling watches that use this feature.
While U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration had until December 25 to overturn the ITC ban order dated October 26, Apple decided to pre-emptively take steps to suspend sales of its Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 models from its website on December 21 and in its stores after December 24, should the ruling stand.
Subsequently, on December 26, Apple filed an emergency appeal motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit after Biden’s administration failed to veto the ITC ban by the deadline.
Apple asked the court to consider the company’s request and temporarily pause the exclusion order until the U.S Customs and Border Protection decides whether redesigned versions of its watches violate Masimo’s patents and can be imported. Apple said that the customs agency is due to make its decision on January 12, 2024.
“Apple’s teams have worked tirelessly over many years to develop technology that empowers users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features, and we are pleased the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has stayed the exclusion order, while it considers our request to stay the order pending our full appeal,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement on Wednesday.
Notably, the ban on sales did not impact the Apple Watch SE, a less-expensive model, as it does not include the blood oxygen feature. Also, Apple Watches that have already been previously purchased were not affected by the ITC order.