Apple dodges a second Apple Watch ban

is a senior reporter focusing on wearables, health tech, and more with 13 years of experience. Before coming to The Verge, she worked for Gizmodo and PC Magazine. AliveCor has suffered another setback in its long-running patent case against Apple. Today, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld a decision that the medical device maker’s EKG patents are not actually patentable. As a result, the Apple Watch won’t face a second import ban from the International Trade Commission (ITC). This back and forth between AliveCor and Apple began in 2021. AliveCor went to the ITC claiming Apple had infringed on its EKG patents. The ITC ruled in AliveCor’s favor, recommending an import ban that would’ve prevented the sale of Apple Watches with the EKG feature in the US. However, it didn’t immediately go into effect because the Patent Trial and Appeal Board also ruled that the three patents in question weren’t valid. For the import ban to go forward, AliveCor would’ve had to win i ... Read full article.