This isn’t good news for Apple: The Biden administration has opted not to overturn the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) ruling banning imports of Apple Watches using contested blood-oxygen level reading technology.
Effective today, the ban arises from a complaint by medical tech firm Masimo, alleging Apple unlawfully incorporated its pulse oximetry tech into the Apple Watch.
“After careful consultations, Ambassador Katherine Tai decided not to reverse the ITC’s determination and the ITC’s decision became final on December 26, 2023,” the agency said in its decision.
Apple removed the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from its online store on December 21. They’re also being removed from Apple Stores, so when the retail stores reopen today, those models won’t be available for purchase.
However, Bloomberg reports that Apple is plotting a “rescue mission” for the $17 billion business that includes software fixes and other potential workarounds. The article says that engineers at the company are racing to make changes to algorithms on the device that measure a user’s blood oxygen level — a feature that Masimo claims infringes its patents. They’re adjusting how the technology determines oxygen saturation and presents the data to customers, according to Bloomberg.
