The Apple company. AAPL has appealed to a US appeals court to overturn the ban on the import of some products Apple Watches. The ban was imposed following a patent dispute with a medical monitoring technology company Fields Society MASI.
What happened: On Friday, Apple asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to overturn the decision of the U.S. International Trade Commission, or ITC, to ban the import of specific Apple Watches, Reuters reported.
The Cupertino, California-based tech giant informed the Federal Circuit that the ban could not be maintained because the Masimo wearable device, protected by the patents, was merely theoretical at the time of its 2021 ITC complaint.
Furthermore, the technology company argued that Masimo’s patents were invalid and that its watches did not infringe them.
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Irvine, California-based Masimo accused Apple of poaching its employees and stealing its pulse oximetry technology after discussing a potential collaboration. Apple has introduced pulse oximetry into its Series 6 Apple Watches in 2020.
Following the ITC’s decision, Apple temporarily suspended sales of the Watches, but then resumed them after the Federal Circuit stayed the ban. The ban was reinstated in January, prompting Apple to remove the pulse oximetry feature from watches sold during the appeal.
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Because matter: The Apple Watch ban was confirmed by the White House in December 2023, impacting the company’s sales. Before the ban went into effect, the Tim CookThe company has discontinued sales of its latest watch models: the Apple Watch series 9 AND Apple Watch Ultra 2in the United States
The ban had a significant impact on Apple’s operations and sales, prompting the company to take legal action to reverse the decision. Based on IDC’s shipping estimates, Apple shipped 43.9 million Apple Watch units in 2022, with an average selling price, or ASP, of approximately $466, with total Apple Watch revenue close to $20 billion .
Newer models like the Series 9 and Ultra 2 reportedly contributed to around 80% of total shipments.
Experts suggest that since approximately 30% of global smartwatch sales occur in the United States, the potential fallout from this ban could impact sales by approximately $5 billion, or approximately 1% of Apple’s total revenue. Apple.
The ultimate effect on the Cupertino-based tech giant is perhaps even smaller, depending on the length of the ban and Apple’s ability to steer U.S. consumers toward older models.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and has been reviewed and published by Benzinga Editors.
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