In August, Apple launched a “redesigned” version of the Apple Watch’s Blood Oxygen feature in the United States. This came 18 months after Apple started selling the Apple Watch without the Blood Oxygen feature in due to a patent dispute with health technology company Masimo.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) now says that it is holding a new proceeding to decide if this solution should also be banned due to the Masimo patent dispute.
In new filings today, the ITC said it “has determined to institute a combined modification and enforcement proceeding” to determine whether the redesigned Apple Watch blood oxygen feature is permitted under the initial ITC import ban. The decision was made following a complaint from Masimo.
According to the ITC, conditions have changed because Apple is now selling a redesigned watch that wasn’t part of the original investigation. This, in turn, justifies the revisiting and will be the “sole issue to be resolved” in the proceeding.
The review includes the question of whether Apple causes infringement by selling an Apple Watch that, once paired with an iPhone, performs the disputed features.
Essentially, the ITC is evaluating not just what the Apple Watch does on its own, but whether the watch and iPhone together trigger the patented technology.
Apple’s new implementation of the blood oxygen feature on Apple Watch centers around viewing the results from a test on the iPhone rather than the watch. You start a session using the Blood Oxygen feature on your Apple Watch and the sensors on your Apple Watch will then collect the necessary data.
The results, however, aren’t viewable on the Apple Watch itself. Instead, you can find them in the Respiratory section of the Health app on your iPhone.
The ITC says it expects to make a decision within six months.
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