Apple's legal bid to pause Apple Watch sales & import ban fails

AppleInsider

Apple requested that the Apple Watch ban be stayed while appeals are underway, but the ITC has denied that motion.

Apple Watch Ultra 2

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will no longer be sold on Apple's website as of December 21, and a full import ban goes into effect on December 25. Apple still has options to avoid a ban, but time is running out.

Apple put in a motion to stay the Apple Watch import ban until appeals could be processed, but the US International Trade Commission has denied that request. The import ban will occur on December 25 as scheduled unless the White House steps in or customs accepts an alteration from Apple.

It doesn't appear as if the White House is moving quickly to make a call. The US trade official Katherine Tai is "carefully considering all of the factors in the case."

There's a small chance that a last-minute software update could be enough to convince customs to avoid a ban. However, the company suing Apple, Masimo, believes only a hardware change will work.

One final option, a result Apple seems to want to avoid, is settlement. Masimo has stated it is open to discuss settlement, if only Apple would pick up the phone.



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chelgrian

I very much doubt Apple will 'pick up the phone' that would result in having to pay a license fee in the US, possibly retroactive royalties for product already shipped and set a precedent for action in the rest of the world.

They will presumably rev the hardware to remove the feature at least for the US market and bring it back the moment the patent expires.

For example it's speculated that the real reason MagSafe went away and came back again was a 3rd party patent claim on elements of it.

eriamjh

I want to say that for the dozen or so threats to Apple regarding using patented technology (or not) in it's products over the years, apple was bound to get burned by one eventually.

I expect a resolution by the end of the year in the form of a "settlement".  Apple cannot afford an Apple Watch gap! </Dr. Strangelove>

eightzero

chelgrian said:

I very much doubt Apple will 'pick up the phone' that would result in having to pay a license fee in the US, possibly retroactive royalties for product already shipped and set a precedent for action in the rest of the world.

They will presumably rev the hardware to remove the feature at least for the US market and bring it back the moment the patent expires.

For example it's speculated that the real reason MagSafe went away and came back again was a 3rd party patent claim on elements of it.

Wonder when that/those patents expire. 

anilu_777

Apple should buy Masimo and its patents. Problem solved

jimcord

Chelgrian……. do you not see that removing features from a watch that a person already paid for Could and probably would lead to a large class action lawsuit against Apple. Do you think Apple really wants that backlash from their customers? People bought their product because it had those features, and now you’ve taken them away. I see nothing but problems with this

elijahg

jimcord said:

Chelgrian……. do you not see that removing features from a watch that a person already paid for Could and probably would lead to a large class action lawsuit against Apple. Do you think Apple really wants that backlash from their customers? People bought their product because it had those features, and now you’ve taken them away. I see nothing but problems with this

They did that with Force Touch. The Series 4 had it and then it just was disabled in a software update. Which was a shame, the long press is a crappy reimplementation; force touch itself was poorly implemented too mainly because you never knew what was force-touchable. When you did know what to force touch though, it was a really nice feature.

ios_guy80

Same could be said for long press, you don’t know what’s long-pressable. A great feature. I might add

eightzero

Anilu_777 said:

Apple should buy Masimo and its patents. Problem solved

Kinda curious how long that would take. I think the SEC has some things to say about M&As; and then you gotta install a new BoD, issue edicts, make filings with the ITC, they tell customs. Doesn't seem likely this happens quickly. 

I suppose the mere threat might be sufficient: "look at all the stock we own, and what our plans are. now...grant the license, or you all gonna be on the street soon." Suspect part of that it already in motion, and now we're just haggling price. Price goes down if the tea leaves say Apple is willing to play chicken by making moves to stop sales at least temporarily. My guess is someone at Apple knows how much a sales ban costs per hour.