The federal appeals court has ruled to reinstate a ban on the sale of Apple’s high-end watches in the United States. This decision comes as the court mediates a patent conflict involving a sensor, potentially leading to the removal of the watches from stores for the second time in under a month.

The decision made on Wednesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington comes after a three-week halt on the ban. This pause allowed Apple to resume selling the Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches, which were involved in a legal dispute with medical technology company Masimo over intellectual property.

In October, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that the blood-oxygen sensor in Apple Watch models was a violation of Masimo’s patents. As a result, Apple stopped selling Series 9 and Ultra 2 in December, but received temporary relief from the appeals court.

The company, Apple, is making efforts to convince the federal appeals court to reverse the ruling made by the ITC. However, the recent decision on Wednesday indicates that the company is no longer protected from the ban on sales in the United States.

Apple will likely have to halt sales of its newest watch models in the U.S. until at least 2024 or potentially modify the products to adhere to the ITC’s decision, as the appeals process is anticipated to last for a year.

According to a court filing on Monday, Masimo revealed that Apple has received approval from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for changes that would eliminate the blood-oxygen sensor from their watches.

Apple didn’t have any immediate comment about how it will react to the appeals court decision, which revives the U.S. sales ban on the Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches at 2 p.m. Pacific Time Thursday.

The company based in Cupertino, California may reach a compromise with Masimo in order to resolve the issue and allow them to keep selling the Apple Watch models that include the blood-oxygen sensor. However, Apple has rejected the idea that their watches are using Masimo’s patented technology, making it unlikely for a resolution to be reached.

Having to pull its two top Apple Watches from the U.S. would put a small dent in the company’s annual sales of $383 billion. Although the company doesn’t disclose the volume of Apple Watch sales, analyst estimate the product accounts for about $18 billion in annual revenue.

The United States’ restriction on selling the Series 9 and Ultra 2 will not stop Apple from selling their cheaper SE model, which does not have a blood-oxygen sensor. However, this technology, which was added to Apple’s watch collection in 2020, has played a significant role in promoting the devices as life-saving devices for monitoring one’s health.

Apple has requested the appeals court to maintain the ban on sales, stating that implementing the ITC’s patent decision would result in unwarranted damage to a groundbreaking product created by an American company that supports over 90,000 workers in the United States.

According to Masimo, the ban on sales of certain Apple Watch models in the U.S. will not greatly affect the company since the majority of its income comes from iPhone sales. Additionally, Masimo attempted to depict Apple as a large corporation that engages in blatant intellectual property theft commonly utilized in hospitals and other healthcare settings that serve approximately 200 million patients each year.

Source: wral.com