A lawsuit has found that the "blood oxygen measurement" feature offered on Apple's smartwatches infringes medical technology company Masimo's patents.
On the 14th (local time), Masimo said a jury at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California returned a verdict that Apple, which infringed Masimo's patents, must pay $634 million (about 920 billion won) in damages.
Masimo had sought $634 million to $749 million in damages, setting royalties at $14.72 to $17.39 per roughly 43 million Apple Watches sold by Apple. Apple pushed back, saying damages should be capped at $3 million to $6 million, but the jury sided with Masimo.
The jury also found that Apple infringed all four Masimo patents at issue in this case. The verdict comes five years after Masimo sued Apple in 2020.
Regarding the outcome, Masimo said it was "an important milestone in our efforts to protect our innovations and intellectual property" and that it was "satisfied with the result." However, California legal trade publication Daily Journal reported that Apple is expected to appeal.
Separately from this lawsuit, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is also taking another look at Apple's alleged infringement of Masimo's patents. Reuters reported that the ITC decided that day to initiate a new process to determine whether to ban imports of the newly updated Apple Watch.
The full commission of the ITC in 2023 issued an import ban in the United States on Apple Watch, saying Apple infringed Masimo's patents. Apple Watch is manufactured outside the United States, including in China. Early last year, Apple resumed sales after removing the blood oxygen measurement feature. In Aug. this year, it reintroduced the feature through a redesign that does not infringe the patents. The ITC plans to review for up to six months whether the redesigned feature infringes Masimo's patents.
Apple also filed a countersuit in a Delaware court, claiming Masimo's smartwatch infringed its design patents, and won, but the damages awarded were only $250 (about 360,000 won).