Masimo sues U.S. Customs and Border Protection over Apple Watch import approval

The Blood Oxygen sensor on the back crystal of Apple Watch
On Wednesday, Masimo filed a lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Washington, D.C., federal court. The suit challenges CBP’s decision to permit Apple to import Apple Watches equipped with blood-oxygen monitoring technology amid an ongoing patent dispute between the two companies. Masimo alleges that CBP wrongly reversed its prior ruling from last year, which had restricted such imports, without notifying Masimo or justifying the change.
Blake Brittain for Reuters:
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Masimo told the court that it learned of the agency’s August 1 decision only after Apple announced it would reintroduce blood-oxygen reading to its watches last week.
Irvine, California-based Masimo has accused Apple of hiring away its employees and stealing its pulse oximetry technology to use in its Apple Watches. Masimo has separately sued Apple for patent infringement and trade secret theft in ongoing federal court cases.
Masimo convinced the U.S. International Trade Commission to block imports of Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023 based on a determination that Apple’s technology for reading blood oxygen levels infringed Masimo’s patents.
Apple has continued to sell Customs-approved redesigned watches without pulse oximetry since the ITC’s decision.
Apple said on Aug. 14 that it would reintroduce its smartwatches’ blood-oxygen reading capabilities with approval from Customs. Masimo said the agency’s decision to approve the watches without input from Masimo or any “meaningful justification” deprived the company of its rights.

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MacDailyNews Take: To answer the question that immediately spring to mind every time there’s a new lawsuit between the two: Acquiring Masimo would be an expensive ($10 billion or more; by far Apple’s biggest acquisition ever) and strategically questionable move for Apple, especially when cheaper alternatives like licensing, redesigns, or litigation exist.

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