Why Apple Had to Disable the Blood-Oxygen Sensor in Its Watches

Apple Inc. has started selling versions of its latest Apple Watch models that disable their blood oxygen sensing tool. The dramatic retreat was in response to a patent dispute with Masimo Corp., a much smaller US company that makes medical watches. The US International Trade Commission ruled in October that Apple was violating two of Masimo’s patents and ordered it to stop selling the infringing devices, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. Apple won a reprieve in December, allowing those models to briefly return to shelves, but in mid-January a federal appeals court denied Apple’s request to extend the reprieve. Instead of pulling its watches from the market again, which could cost it billions of dollars a year, the company instead decided to remove the infringing feature.

In 2020, Apple introduced a sensor in its Series 6 watches to measure how much oxygen is contained in a person’s blood. (Most users are looking for readings between 95% and 100%.) Masimo sued, claiming that the method Apple’s watches were using to determine a person’s blood oxygen saturation was violating its patents. The lawsuit ended in a hung jury, but the trade commission nonetheless said on Oct. 26 that Apple was in violation and confirmed both a US import ban and a sales injunction. That ruling started a 60-day presidential review period during which the White House could have vetoed the decision. That didn’t happen, and the US trade representative, Katherine Tai, declined to reverse the decision after what her office called “careful consultations.”