In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple has announced that it will soon stop all sales of its 2023 smartwatch flagship in the United States. The reason for this recall is a patent dispute that involves a feature found in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.
This situation arises from a long-running patent dispute between Apple and the medical company Masimo, which involves the Apple Watch’s blood oxygen sensor technology. For those unaware, Masimo’s patent features a unique pulse oximeter that Apple has been using in their Series 6 line of smartwatches. The two groups have been in a legal battle since, but the court ruled in favour of Masimo this January.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) announced its ruling in October, upholding a judge’s decision from January. This resulted in the case being assigned to the Biden administration for a 60-day Presidential Review Period. President Biden has the option to veto this, but that has not yet happened.
With the Presidential Review Period expiring soon (on 25 December), Apple has announced that it will “preemptively” take steps to comply with the ITC’s decision by pulling the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Watch Series 9 from US shelves. The wearable will no longer be available to order from Apple’s website in the US after 3 PM EST (4 AM Malaysian standard time) on 21 December, and will be fully pulled from physical stores after 24 December.
Though this move is unprecedented and the future for the product is uncertain, Apple says that it will “continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.”
Though the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 will be available in other markets, this may affect the development of future Apple smartwatches as it might force the company to alter the product line in unforeseeable ways moving forward. The Masimo patents that the ITC says Apple Watch infringes on aren’t set to expire until August 2028.
(Source: 9to5Mac)
