Why is Apple disabling blood oxygen feature from its premium watches? Patent dispute explored

The tech giant Apple has decided to remove the blood oxygen monitoring feature from its Series 9 and Ultra 2 watch models in the United States. This is because a US court upheld an earlier order prohibiting the sale of the company's watches on Thursday, January 17, because they violated a patent about this medical technology.

The ruling comes after a court battle between Apple and Masimo, a medical technology company that claimed that the former had violated its patents. The feature was allegedly introduced by the latter.

The US Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay three weeks ago, permitting the two watch models to be restocked in American retailers. This was after the tech giant had removed the watches from its website and shelves shortly before Christmas, amid the ongoing legal dispute.

However, in late October, the U.S. International Trade Commission declared that Masimo's patents were violated by the blood-oxygen sensor used in some of the Apple watch models.

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Apple is disabling its blood oxygen feature from Series 9 and Ultra 2 watch models in the United States

The Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches with the particular feature will be available outside the US (Image via Apple)

Recently, Apple landed itself in hot waters with a feature that got the company into trouble. As a result, the feature to display the blood oxygen level in its Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches was disabled.

This is due to the company's patent battle with another California-based Masimo, which is a health technology company. While the patent dispute was pending, the multinational tech company was previously permitted to sell Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches with the feature.

Nevertheless, the tech company, founded by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, has chosen to disable the feature rather than stop selling its watches in the United States, as a result of a recent court decision.

In the decision that went against the company, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit maintained the import restriction on the gadgets that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) had imposed in December 2023. Furthermore, the models under question couldn't be imported after 5:00 PM local time on Thursday, January 18, per the court's decision.

Additionally, the blood oxygen indicator will remain on the Series 9 and Ultra 2 devices that will be offered in the United States starting on Thursday, but when users tap it, a notification stating that the technology isn't available will appear.

As per BBC, the company famous for manufacturing iPhones also hinted in a press release on Thursday that it would turn off the feature, however, stating that it "strongly disagreed" with the court's verdict.

The release further stated,

"Pending the appeal, Apple is taking steps to comply with the ruling while ensuring customers have access to Apple Watch with limited disruption."

In addition, it has also stated that has planned to appeal the decision, arguing that the ban will harm the public, the company, and its suppliers.

On the other hand, Masimo CEO, Joe Kiani, sees the ruling as a support for intellectual property rights. He uploaded a post on X stating that the decision was a "victory for American innovation". As per CBS News, in an official press release, he further stated that,

“It affirms that even the largest and most powerful companies must respect the intellectual rights of American inventors and must deal with the consequences when they are caught infringing others’ patents.”

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In a related development, US Customs and Border Protection has concluded that the tech manufacturing company could redesign the models in question without going against the ITC's guidelines.

On the other hand, the blood oxygen feature can still be used as usual by customers who have previously purchased the Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches in the United States. On watches that were bought outside of the United States, the sensor will still function.