Apple Fails To Delay ITC Ban Of Apple Watch Series 9 And Ultra 2

In a truly shocking turn of events, Apple will be forced to cease sales of its latest smartwatches this month after the company failed to delay an import and sales ban by the United States International Trade Commission (ITC). On December 18, the tech giant announced plans to halt sales of its flagship watches, the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2, after the ITC ruled that the products' health sensors infringed on patents. Although Apple said it was considering a range of solutions to keep the products on shelves, those efforts have fallen through.

On Wednesday, the ITC (PDF) denied a request by Apple to stay the ban until an appeal, effectively ensuring that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 will halt sales after December 24. Apple has stated its intention to explore a remedy through other technical and legal avenues, but the watches will have to pause sales in the meantime. Notably, the ban will only affect the U.S. market, and third-party sellers like Target or Best Buy will be able to continue selling their existing inventory.

A company like Apple is no stranger to patent law and aggressively protects its patents in the courts, so finding itself on the other end of that stick is somewhat ironic. The ITC found the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 to infringe on patents from Masimo, which produces medical technology. The issue is with the watches' health monitoring sensors, specifically those that detect blood oxygen saturation or SPO2.

As The Wall Street Journal reported, Apple met with Masimo founder Joe Kiani to discuss implementing his company's technology into wearable devices like the Apple Watch. But instead of partnering with Masimo, Apple began to poach talent, including Masimo's chief medical officer and top engineers. A patent filed in 2019 by one of those engineers bore a striking resemblance to one of Masimo's own patents for mobile SPO2 sensors.

In January 2023, the ITC ruled that the SPO2 sensors used in Apple's Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 infringed on Masimo's patents. A trade ban was issued in October after Apple countersued Masimo. While Apple had hoped to halt the ban while it worked on ways to differentiate the two infringing products, today's denial of that motion means the watches will indeed halt sales for at least some time.