The aftermath of patent battle for blood oxygen measurement… Apple Watch SE continues to sell
The Wall Street Journal and other foreign media reported on Monday (local time) that Apple will temporarily suspend the sale of its Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the U.S. According to the report, the products will be discontinued at Apple online stores in the U.S. starting from July 21. The products will also be discontinued at offline Apple stores after July 24. Apple explained that the measure is only applied to the Apple Watch 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The Apple Watch SE model without blood oxygen measurement function will continue to be on sale.
The suspension of Apple Watch’s main model sales is due to a patent dispute with medical technology company Masimo over a patent for blood oxygen measurement technology. In late October, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) finally decided that Apple had infringed on the patent of medical technology company Masimo and ordered a temporary ban on imports of some of the Apple Watch’s models into the U.S. The move could order U.S. President Joe Biden to review the ITC’s decision by Dec. 25, but it was rare in the past that the president ordered a similar ban to be reviewed. Therefore, the foreign media said the suspension will continue for some time. Apple said it “totally disagrees” with the decision, adding that it is “considering a variety of legal and technical options” under the ITC’s order. Since 2021, Masimo has been filing a patent lawsuit with Apple over health tracking functions, including a blood oxygen measurement function applied to some models of the Apple Watch. “This decision demonstrates that even the most powerful companies in the world must abide by the law,” Masimo said in a statement on the 18th, “I believe the ITC’s order should be respected.” Infomining’s flagship solution, ConnectDoc, consists of a self-examination solution that helps patients check their condition and a clinical decision support system (CDSS) that monitors the patient’s physical condition in real-time, such as body temperature, pulse, blood pressure, electrocardiogram, and oxygen saturation, and informs patients and medical staff. More accurate information can be obtained by using a smartwatch-type “MediWatch” or installing a “ConnectDoc” app on a typical smartwatch. This not only delivers patients’ various medical information to hospitals in real time, but also allows doctors to check and advise them on their symptoms. The ConnectDoc platform has big data for most of the 500 diseases, and it has already been approved by the U.S. FDA for the first grade. It has also obtained medical approval in Korea through software.
SOPHIA KIM
ASIA JOURNAL
