In a design patent lawsuit, the jury rules in favor of Apple, granting them a compensation of $250 against Masimo.
The Delaware jury sided with Apple, stating that Masimo's W1, Freedom watches, and related chargers intentionally breached Apple's smartwatch design patents, resulting in a $250 damage payment for Apple. Apple's legal team expressed that the main goal of their lawsuit was to secure an injunction prohibiting the sale of Masimo's smartwatches post an infringement judgment.
The jury, however, found that Masimo's watches did not violate Apple's patents pertaining to inventions in the realm of smartwatches which Apple had accused Masimo of duplicating.
Masimo released a statement, celebrating the jury's decision "favoring Masimo over Apple on the majority of points," and emphasizing that the ruling only impacted a "discontinued module and charger."
Masimo further declared victory in regard to Apple's primary intention of obtaining an injunction against Masimo's current products, following the jury's verdict.
Apple, in their statement, expressed satisfaction with the jury's decision as it would safeguard the innovations they develop for their customers.
Irvine, California-based Masimo leveled accusations against Apple, claiming that Apple poached their employees and stole their pulse oximetry technology during exploratory talks about a potential collaboration. Last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission granted Masimo's request to halt imports of Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches, as the commission discovered that these watches infringed on Masimo's patents related to reading blood oxygen levels.
Apple challenged this ruling and restarted selling the watches once they had eliminated the infringing technology. In 2022, Apple counter-sued Masimo for patent infringement, alleging that Masimo had replicated Apple Watch features for use in its smartwatches.
Apple also accused Masimo of using lawsuits at the ITC and in California as a strategy to pave the way for Masimo's own watch. Masimo retaliated by labeling Apple's patent lawsuit as "retaliatory" and a "ploy to divert the ongoing legal dispute to a different forum."
Despite the jury's decision not affecting Masimo's current smartwatch business due to the breach of Apple's patents being related to a discontinued module and charger, Masimo's business strategy involving patent disputes remains a topic of debate. Apple, on the other hand, aims to protect its business by safeguarding the innovations that form the backbone of their smartwatch offerings.
