After Apple was able to put a temporary pause on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 ban in the U.S. today thanks to a court ruling, and now the company says online sales will resume on Thursday, December 28, at noon PST, says Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
This development comes amid an ongoing legal battle with medical device maker Masimo, sparked by a 2013 email from Marcelo Lamego, then chief technical officer of Masimo affiliate Cercacor Laboratories, to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Lamego proposed a collaboration to advance Apple’s presence in the medical and wellness market.
After joining Apple to work on a health sensor-equipped smartwatch, Lamego faced integration challenges and left in July 2014. Masimo accuses Lamego of misappropriating blood-oxygen level measurement technology during his tenure at Apple, a feature now central to the Apple Watch. Masimo contends this technology was developed at Masimo and Cercacor, not within Lamego’s prior expertise.
The U.S. International Trade Commission initially sided with Masimo, imposing an import ban on certain Apple Watch models for patent infringement. However, Apple’s recent court victory has paused this ban, allowing sales to continue in the U.S. as the legal dispute persists.
Streisand effect anyone? The news headlines over the past few weeks have likely brought even more attention to the new Series 9 and Ultra 2, plus the blood oxygen feature at the heart of the legal battle.
Initial online sales were paused on December 21, 2023, and the last day to buy a Series 9 or Ultra 2 was on Christmas Eve. The ban did not affect sales of these Apple Watch models in Canada. The saga continues, folks.
