Apple Continues Working to Get Blood Oxygen Sensing Back in U.S. Apple Watches as Next Masimo Trial Begins

Apple and Masimo are back in a California court this week for a bench trial that will see Masimo arguing that Apple illegally poached its employees and stole trade secrets when developing the Apple Watch.

masimo watch freedom
Masimo first filed the trade secret lawsuit against Apple in 2020, and there was a jury trial in April 2023. During that trial, the court threw out more than half of Masimo's trade secret claims, but the judge ultimately declared a mistrial because the jury was not able to come to a final decision. Six of seven jurors sided with Apple, while one Masimo holdout would not change her opinion.

Apple and Masimo were slated to retry the case with another jury, but Masimo abandoned all claims asking for monetary compensation in order to get a bench trial instead. Masimo originally requested $1.85 billion in damages, along with reasonable royalties, lost profits, and a penalty for willful trade secret appropriation.

With the bench trial, Masimo is no longer claiming any monetary damages, but it wants an injunction against the Apple Watch. The bench trial will first determine if there were any trade secret violations, and then the court will consider Masimo's argument for an injunction. It is unclear what injunctive relief Masimo could ask for in this situation, especially as many of the claims in this case have now been thrown out.

During the case, Masimo accused Apple of infringing on 17 patents. After an ITC review, 15 of the 17 patents were invalidated, with two remaining. The patent portion of the trade secret case is on hold.

Note that the Masimo trade secret lawsuit against Apple is separate from both an ITC injunction preventing the sale of Apple Watch models with a blood oxygen sensor and a patent infringement case that Apple filed against Masimo.

Apple is appealing the ITC's Apple Watch injunction, but it has been able to continue selling the Apple Watch by disabling the blood oxygen sensor that allegedly infringes on Masimo's technology. To get the sales ban in the first place, Masimo had to prove that it was using the patents that Apple was infringing, so Masimo rushed to create its own smart watch in 2022, deliberately copying several of Apple's patents.

Masimo's W1 Freedom smart watch was the subject of the patent lawsuit that Apple filed against Masimo, and just last week, a jury decided that Masimo's devices had infringed on Apple Watch patents. Apple says that it only asked for $250 in damages, as the goal of the lawsuit wasn't profit, it was to get Masimo to stop copying the design of the Apple Watch.

The ITC order is the most damaging to Apple because Apple is prevented from selling Apple Watch models with blood oxygen sensing in the United States. Apple believes the appeals court will overturn the ITC's ruling, and the company said this week that it is exploring all possible methods to get blood oxygen sensing back in U.S. Apple Watch models.

Over the last five years, Masimo has been fighting three separate cases with Apple. Masimo did win the ITC ban of the blood oxygen sensing feature, but it ultimately had no material impact on Apple's business because Apple was able to simply disable the feature and continue selling the device. So far, Masimo has not gained much in its legal battle with Apple, and it isn't looking like the trade secret case will go in Masimo's favor.

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Top Rated Comments

Timo_Existencia Avatar
8 months ago

"Actions speak louder than words."

Masimo has licensed their tech to countless others. Apple is known for going nuclear. We've seen it with how they work with Qualcomm.
The word is that Kiani was asking an overly ambitious licensing fee...by a lot. Like $100 per watch a lot. It's one thing to say "I'm willing to license" it's entirely another thing to have a reasonable conversation.

Apple has won about 90% of court cases on this matter. And yes, Kiani was essentially kicked out. No need for revisionist history here, it's all been well documented.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JeffNT326 Avatar
8 months ago

So do current US Apple Watch Series 10 devices have the oxygen sensor and it's just software disabled at the moment? Could they enable it via a software update?
This appears to be the case. Tear down videos have confirmed this. Watches sold outside the US have O2 sensors enabled.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drs247 Avatar
8 months ago
Probably the only functionality ever to have existed in an  product that's available all over of the word but not in the US. Usually happens the other way around.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheWraith Avatar
8 months ago

Joe Kiani wasn't "kicked out." He resigned as CEO.
Right he resigned...just after the board voted to remove him. So sure, if you want that's a way to technically claim you weren't 'kicked out'...but most normal people would call a spade a spade.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
8 months ago
this is a mess and it seems no party is giving an inch. Too bad that the customer is being punished here and not getting this feature, but then again, it doesn't seem to impact sales much.
Maybe the fact that the previous Masimo CEO was kicked out a couple months ago will make them more open for reasonable licensing fees
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
8 months ago

Do all the other wearables with similar pulse oximeters somehow not violate Masimo’s patents? Or is this an example of Masimo simply going after the biggest fish? Either way, it’s wild that Apple is stuck shipping a hobbled wearable while all its competitors continue to measure blood oxygen with abandon.
Fitbit (Google), Garmin, Philips, and countless others license from Masimo. It's clear Masimo is willing to license their tech. When people suggest Masimo or the CEO wasn't willing to license, it's a random-ass guess with nothing backing it.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)