ITC Judge Rules Apple Watch Blood Oxygen Workaround Does Not Infringe Masimo Patents

ITC Judge Rules Apple Watch Blood Oxygen Workaround Does Not Infringe Masimo Patents

Apple’s current blood oxygen sensing implementation in the U.S. does not infringe on patents owned by Masimo and Apple will not face a revived import ban, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge said this week (via Reuters).

After Apple was found to have violated Masimo’s patents related to blood oxygen sensing, the Apple Watch faced a U.S. import ban that caused Apple to briefly pause sales of the device in December 2023 before Apple earned a temporary stay. Apple disabled blood oxygen sensing in January 2024, and was able to resume selling the Apple Watch without the functionality.

In August 2025, Apple found a workaround and was able to bring blood oxygen sensing back to U.S. Apple Watch owners. Data is collected by the blood oxygen sensor on the Apple Watch, but it is processed on a paired iPhone rather than the watch itself, and the resulting information can only be viewed on the iPhone. Apple said the updated process did not violate the ITC ban, or infringe on Masimo’s patents, and it was cleared by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Masimo did not agree with the decision and it quickly filed a lawsuit against CBP, accusing the agency of acting unlawfully and exceeding its authority. Masimo also pushed the ITC to look into whether Apple’s solution violated the original import ban.

The ITC ended up siding with Apple, and said that Apple’s workaround does not violate Masimo patents. Since today’s decision is preliminary, the full commission will need to affirm the ruling.

Though Apple scored a win with the ITC, Masimo came out ahead in a separate appeals ruling today. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the original 2023 ITC decision that led to the Apple Watch import ban. The appeals court said that the Apple Watch did indeed infringe on Masimo’s patents, and it declined to overturn the ban.

Apple said that it would continue to investigate “all avenues for further review” in light of the appeals court decision.

In November 2025, Apple also lost the patent infringement lawsuit that Masimo filed against it. A federal jury awarded Masimo $634 million, which Apple is appealing.Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11Tags: Apple Lawsuits, Masimo, Patent LawsuitsBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)This article, “ITC Judge Rules Apple Watch Blood Oxygen Workaround Does Not Infringe Masimo Patents” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums BuyPAWMART.ca