Masimo Corp. (Nasdaq: MASI), an Irvine-based maker of oximetry devices, was sued in two separate cases in Delaware by a new activist investor and Apple Inc., the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) claimed Masimo has copied technology to make its new W1 watch. Masimo, while suing Apple in separate ongoing intellectual-property cases, “carefully studied Apple’s IP” to obtain confidential information, Reuters reported today, citing the lawsuit.
Masimo told Reuters in a statement that Apple’s lawsuits are “retaliatory” and “appear to be an attempt to avoid the court in which the parties have been litigating their dispute for the past three years.”
Separately, Politan Capital Management, which has garnered 8.8% of the company’s shares in recent months, said Masimo’s recent bylaw amendments “effectively preclude stockholders from nominating director candidates.”
“Many of the bylaw amendments are unprecedented among publicly traded companies,” Politan said in a statement.
Politan said these amendments include demanding the names of the nominating stockholders’ passive limited partners as well as their and their families’ investment holdings in the company’s competitors or counterparties to litigation, including stock holdings in companies like Apple and Medtronic PLC.
Politan said it asked the company for a board seat on Sept. 2 and a week later Masimo implemented what’s called a “poison pill” to thwart such actions.
Masimo said Politan is using “strongarm demands” and its founder, Quentin Koffey has never served on a corporate board and “has no experience in Masimo’s industry.”
Shares of Masimo were relatively unchanged at $134.90 and a $7.1 billion market cap.
