ITC Judge Clears Apple's Redesigned Watch Blood Oxygen Feature

A U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled preliminarily on Thursday that Apple's redesigned blood oxygen monitoring feature in its Apple Watches does not infringe patents held by medical device company Masimo, allowing the tech giant to continue selling the affected models in the United States without facing a renewed import ban.

Administrative Law Judge Monica Bhattacharyya determined that the updated version of the feature, which processes and displays blood oxygen readings on a paired iPhone rather than directly on the watch, avoids violating Masimo's patents related to pulse oximetry technology. The ruling stems from a review initiated last November, following Apple's introduction of the redesign in August 2024. The decision now advances to the full ITC commission for final review, which could affirm or overturn it.

The preliminary finding provides temporary relief for Apple amid a protracted patent dispute with Irvine, California-based Masimo. In December 2023, the ITC initially barred imports of Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches after concluding they infringed Masimo's patents on blood oxygen sensing, a technology that measures oxygen levels in the blood....