Masimo Corp. (Nasdaq: MASI) said a judge for the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled that some watches made by Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) have violated a patent of the Irvine-based maker of medical devices.
Masimo said that the trade commission will now consider whether to implement an import ban on these Apple Watches.
“We are happy that the ALJ recognized Apple’s infringement of Masimo’s pulse oximetry technology and took this critical first step toward accountability,” Masimo Chief Executive Joe Kiani said in a statement. “Today’s decision should help restore fairness in the market. Apple has similarly infringed on other companies’ technologies, and we believe today’s ruling exposes Apple as a company that takes other companies’ innovations and repackages them.”
Masimo alleges Apple, the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, stole its light-based pulse oximetry functionality and components for its Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020 and continues to use it in the current Apple Watches. Masimo last year began selling its own watch with the technology that it normally sells to hospitals.
Shares of Masimo rose 2.6% to $157.39 and an $8.3 billion market cap. Shares of Cupertino-based Apple climbed 1.7% to $132.98 and a $2.1 trillion market cap.
The Business Journal will have an in-depth article on the battle in its Jan. 16 issue.
