Masimo to Pay Apple $250 in Ongoing Smartwatch Infringement Dispute
Last week a federal jury in Delaware awarded Apple a token amount of $250 in damages in connection with accusations that Masimo smartwatches infringed on their design patents. Despite the low award, Apple considers this a victory as their ultimate goal in filing a lawsuit was likely to secure an injunction against the sale of the Masimo’s W1 and Freedom watches. This nominal damage award was not a complete victory for Apple, though, as the jury focused only on older and not current products. They did not agree that all of Masimo’s watches infringed on Apple’s smartwatch patents.
This development appears to be just the latest in the ongoing disputes between the two companies resulting from a failed collaboration attempt. Apple was accused of poaching employees and stealing trade secrets involving pulse oximetry technology from Masimo. This accusation of infringement led to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) blocking the import of Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches, forcing Apple to remove the blood-oxygen reading technology.
Apple has appealed the ITC’s decision with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, but the ban remains. The two companies have accused each other of retaliatory lawsuits and seem unlikely to put their litigation disputes behind them anytime soon.
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