Latest chapter of $2 billion Apple Watch patent battle ends in mistrial
The ongoing US District Court lawsuit from Masimo against Apple ended Monday with a mistrial after jurors couldn't reach a unanimous vote.
Apple Watch health technology targeted in lawsuit
Masimo is a medical firm suing Apple for stealing trade secrets to build the Apple Watch. It won its preliminary case with the International Trade Commission, but Masimo also brought its charges in front of the US District Court in April.
According to a tweet from Mark Gurman, that trial has ended in a mistrial. Earlier Monday, a Bloomberg report suggested that six of seven jurors had ruled in favor of Apple, but a unanimous vote was needed.
The judge told the jurors to continue deliberating, and that he wouldn't use a so-called "Allen charge" to force a verdict. Gurman didn't share the details of why the mistrial occurred, but it seems likely that it is due to the jury not reaching a unanimous verdict.
"We thank the jury for their careful consideration in this case," Apple said in a statement to AppleInsider. "We deeply respect intellectual property and innovation and do not take or use confidential information from other companies. We are pleased that the court correctly rejected half of the plaintiffs' trade secret allegations, and will now ask the court to dismiss the remaining claims."
This latest development doesn't bode well for Masimo's case, but it isn't the end. The trial will likely be on hold until the plaintiffs decide how to move forward.
"While we are disappointed that the jury was unable to reach a verdict, we intend to retry the case and continue to pursue legal redress against Apple," a Masimo spokesperson shared in a statement to AppleInsider. "As we begin that process, the United States Trade Commission is scheduled in the coming months to decide whether to ban the importation of certain models of the Apple Watch, following a ruling last year by an Administrative Law Judge that Apple infringed one of Masimo's patents for pulse oximetry."
Masimo sought nearly $2 billion in damages, and depending on the outcome, the trial could have resulted in an Apple Watch ban. Read about the witness testimonies from earlier in the trial to understand the scope of Masimo's accusations.
Update May 1, 7:35 p.m. EST: Added statements from Apple and Masimo.
Read on AppleInsider
Apple Watch health technology targeted in lawsuit
Masimo is a medical firm suing Apple for stealing trade secrets to build the Apple Watch. It won its preliminary case with the International Trade Commission, but Masimo also brought its charges in front of the US District Court in April.
According to a tweet from Mark Gurman, that trial has ended in a mistrial. Earlier Monday, a Bloomberg report suggested that six of seven jurors had ruled in favor of Apple, but a unanimous vote was needed.
The Masimo v. Apple trial around patents for the Apple Watch/Health technologies ends in a mistrial. https://t.co/6kOzBtcF7i
-- Mark Gurman (@markgurman)
The judge told the jurors to continue deliberating, and that he wouldn't use a so-called "Allen charge" to force a verdict. Gurman didn't share the details of why the mistrial occurred, but it seems likely that it is due to the jury not reaching a unanimous verdict.
"We thank the jury for their careful consideration in this case," Apple said in a statement to AppleInsider. "We deeply respect intellectual property and innovation and do not take or use confidential information from other companies. We are pleased that the court correctly rejected half of the plaintiffs' trade secret allegations, and will now ask the court to dismiss the remaining claims."
This latest development doesn't bode well for Masimo's case, but it isn't the end. The trial will likely be on hold until the plaintiffs decide how to move forward.
"While we are disappointed that the jury was unable to reach a verdict, we intend to retry the case and continue to pursue legal redress against Apple," a Masimo spokesperson shared in a statement to AppleInsider. "As we begin that process, the United States Trade Commission is scheduled in the coming months to decide whether to ban the importation of certain models of the Apple Watch, following a ruling last year by an Administrative Law Judge that Apple infringed one of Masimo's patents for pulse oximetry."
Masimo sought nearly $2 billion in damages, and depending on the outcome, the trial could have resulted in an Apple Watch ban. Read about the witness testimonies from earlier in the trial to understand the scope of Masimo's accusations.
Update May 1, 7:35 p.m. EST: Added statements from Apple and Masimo.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
I expect that if that happens, Masimo will have to accept a settlement in order to drop the ITC case.
Apple buys a lot of small companies because they want to use their tech and hire their people. But, these companies must agree to be acquired. Masimo didn't.
It would be sleazy if Apple acquired companies in order to deep-six their tech. That didn't happen here.
The more medical monitoring instrument tech, that Apple adds to the watch, will conversely lead to more lawsuits in the future, most of the old line medical device companies are small companies that make very large relatively immobile, very expensive pieces of equipment, and most do not have the software and hardware skills, and the money to miniaturize their products fast enough if at all. Their experience will be equivalent to the old horse and buggy companies.
The next case coming up will be blood pressure monitoring on your Apple Watch, several companies will come out of the woodwork, claiming their pot of gold from Apple.
All the big techs are in the power position. If they want what you as a small company invented and are trying to sell they can get it from you whether willing or not. If they think you might be asking for more than they're willing to give you then they can slip in the back door and hire away the keys to your company, effectively absconding with your tech or at least minimally negating your small company's ability to market its products.
Approaching an employer for a job as a free individual, what you are interjecting, is a far different scenario than the wealthy employer coming to get my best and brightest, paying unreasonable recompense I'm unable to match, if they believe you might someday become a potential competitor to some insignificant part of their business. Nip off the buds before they blossom. In fairness Amazon, Google, Facebook, Qiualcomm, Apple and other rich companies have done this several times before. It's nothing new or uniquely Apple.
So yup it's an age-old problem of the wealthy taking advantage of the small entrepreneurs. The story's premise seems right: If Apple comes calling then beware. Being on their radar may be the kiss of death for your dreams and investment.
Leveling the playing field a tiny bit through a little stouter competition rules is fine by me. We had to do it with railroads. We had to do it with phones. Now we probably need to do it with big tech. It doesn't happen often, maybe once in a hundred years, but sometimes a new industry attempts to gain too much control over commerce, and artificially limits development in the larger economy for their own profit motives. When they factually acquire the power to do so then IMO it's time to put some checks in place.