U.S. appeals court grants Apple's request to pause smartwatch import ban

A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily halted an import ban on Apple's newest smartwatches, as the tech giant disputes findings that it violated the patents of medical technology company Masimo.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit pauses the ban as Apple appeals an October decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission that found some Apple Watches infringed on the patents of a blood oxygen sensor made by Masimo. Apple has included the feature on most of its smartwatches since 2020.

The commission also issued a ban on imports of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 versions, which included the technology. Earlier this month, Apple pulled those products from store shelves.

But in a statement reported by Reuters on Tuesday, Apple said that it disagreed with the decision and resulting exclusion order and was "taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible."

Apple filed its emergency request to halt the ban after the White House decided not to intervene and the ITC's decision became final on Dec. 26.

Masimo, a publicly traded company based in Irvine, Calif., told NPR previously that it viewed Apple's earlier move to pause watch sales as vindication for its alleged wrongdoing.

Neither Apple nor Masimo immediately responded to requests for comment from NPR on Wednesday.

According to court documents, Masimo held meetings with Apple in 2013 about using the medical technology company's tools in Apple products, but the talks broke down.

Later, Apple hired two executives and key engineers from Masimo.

Masimo has claimed in legal filings that Apple poached the employees in order to illegally duplicate its technology.

Apple has denied that it violated any Masimo patents, saying Apple consulted with several medical technology companies before coming up with its own version of the blood oxygen tool. [Copyright 2023 NPR]