Apple’s patent battle with Masimo is far from over. As it stands right now, Apple is still selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the United States, but with the contested blood oxygen feature disabled.
In a new interview today, Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated that Apple has no interest in licensing Masimo’s technology and putting the battle to rest. Instead, he said that Apple is focused on its appeal of the ITC’s ruling.
In an interview with CNBC following the release of Apple’s fiscal Q1 2024 earnings, Cook said there are a number of reasons for someone to buy the Apple Watch other than the blood oxygen feature.
“We’re focused on appeal,” Cook said in a statement spotted by AppleInsider. “There’s lots of reasons to buy the watch even without the blood oxygen sensor.”
The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 were briefly pulled from Apple’s website and retail stores in December. For fiscal Q1 2024, Apple’s Wearables, Home, and Accessories category reported $11.95 billion in revenue, beating expectations of $11.39 billion.
Masimo CEO Joe Kiani said in the past that Apple has yet to engage in “serious discussions about a settlement” with Masimo. In other interviews, Kiani said that Masimo is open to a settlement with Apple, but “it takes two to tango.”
For the time being, you can still buy an Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from third-party retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, and they will still have the blood oxygen app and features.
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