Apple must pay an additional US$184 million in interest on a jury’s $634 million patent verdict in favor of Masimo Corp. based on sales of Apple Watches with heart-rate monitoring features, a federal judge has ruled, reports Bloomberg Law (a subscription is required to read the article).
Judge James V. Selna rejected Apple’s argument that awarding interest would constitute a windfall for Masimo, citing US Supreme Court guidance that “interest from the time that the royalty payments would have been received merely serves to make the patent owner whole.”
The judge also denied Masimo’s request to calculate it at a 7% rate, which would have put Apple’s interest bill at $243 million. Instead, the court used Masimo’s own borrowing rate, compounding annually from when the infringement began.
This is the latest development in the long-running battle between Masimo and Apple. In June 2022 Masimo filed a patent infringement complaint against Apple, asking for a ban on impacts of the Apple Watch.
The medial device company claimed that the Apple Watch Series 6 infringed on five of its patents for devices that use light transmitted through the body to measure oxygen levels in the blood. The company said that the tech is vial to its business and that Apple is unfairly copying its features.
Masimo and its spinoff Cercacor Laboratories first sued in January 2020. They accused Apple of promising a working relationship only to steal secret information. The tech giant also allegedly attempted to hire away key employees, including Cercacor’s former chief technology officer and Masimo’s chief medical officer.
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