Medical device company Masimo has accused Apple of patent infringement, filing a complaint against the company with the U.S. International Trade Commission yesterday.
Bloomberg, which first spotted the news, reports that the accusations are specifically against Apple’s Series 6 smartwatch blood oxygenation tool, which uses light transmitted throughout the body to gauge blood oxygen levels.
In September of 2020, Apple announced that its Series 6 Apple Watch would include a blood oxygenation sensor that uses infrared light to take the measurement.
Now Masimo is seeking to take the tech off the market.
“Masimo also seeks permanent cease and desist orders prohibiting Apple from engaging in the importation, sale for importation, marketing and/or advertising, distribution, offering for sale, sale, testing, use after importation, sale after importation, or other transfer within the United States of those devices [Apple Watch Series 6] and components,” the company wrote in the company’s statement on public interest to the commission.
The company’s statement on public interest to the commission details its relationship with the tech giant.
“In 2013, Apple met with Masimo about integrating Masimo’s technology into the Apple Watch. Soon thereafter, Apple began hiring Masimo employees, starting with Masimo’s Chief Medical Officer. In the fall of 2020, Apple introduced the Series 6, manufactured in Asia. Apple claims the Series 6 watch can measure arterial oxygen saturation. The importation and sale of that product infringes multiple Masimo patents (as well as incorporates Masimo’s trade secrets, a claim the parties are litigating in California).”
This new filing isn’t the start of this battle over patents between the two companies. In January of 2020, Masimo sued Apple for allegedly stealing trade secrets and using Masimo’s inventions.
WHY IT MATTERS
Masimo is asking that the technology be pulled from the U.S. market. According to Bloomberg, most likely the case will end in a settlement. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that the settlement could end in a deal that would pay out between $50 million to $300 million a year in royalties to Masimo.
THE LARGER TREND
This isn’t the first time that Apple has been accused of patent infringement. In April AliveCor filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission which alleged that Apple breached patent laws on three of AliveCor’s patented devices. The filing claims that Apple knowingly copied AliveCor’s patented technology.
Additionally, in 2018 Omni MedSci filed a lawsuit against Apple for patent infringement, alleging the company willfully infringed on patent-pending laser technology developed by Omni MedSci’s principal, Dr. Mohammed Islam, that measures physiological parameters including heart rate.
Apple has become increasingly interested in the healthcare space over the last decade. In 2018 it made headlines when it announced that its Series 4 Apple Watch would include an FDA-cleared atrial fibrillation-detecting algorithm and an ECG.
*MobiHealthNews has contacted Apple and will update with any further information.