Apple Inc. AAPL.O won a partial victory in its long-running intellectual property battle with health technology company Masimo Corp MASI.O when a Delaware jury ruled in its favor on Friday. The jury found that Masimo’s early versions of its W1 and Freedom smartwatches, along with their chargers, infringed two of Apple’s design patents. Despite the verdict, the jury awarded Apple the statutory minimum of $250 in damages with the comment that this wasn’t a case to amass profits but merely a way to ensure the cessation of sales of Masimo’s infringing products.
Apple’s lawyers repeated the fact that the aim is to stop Masimo from selling its smartwatches after the jury has issued its verdict on the case of infringement. However, the jury decided that Masimo’s existing models of smartwatches do not infringe on Apple’s patents. Masimo emphasized the point in a statement while noting that the verdict was applied only to an older module that had already been discontinued.
The firm has also accused Apple of unfair practices, including poaching its employees and taking its pulse oximetry technology after initial talks for collaboration. Last year, the US International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Masimo, blocking imports of Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches on account of infringement of its blood oxygen level technology. In response, Apple took out the technology and appealed the ITC decision.
Apple filed a countering lawsuit in 2022 against Masimo on the grounds of copying features from its Apple Watch. Litigation between the two continues as it is being fought before various courts. Masimo claims that Apple’s action was retaliatory, while, on the other hand, it defends its innovative designs and technology for the benefit of its customers.
