Apple Watch Ban: Apple Watch Series 9, Watch Ultra 2 no longer available for online purchase in US

Apple has voluntarily removed its latest Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 from its website in the US. This happened due to a patent dispute over their blood oxygen sensor technology with health tech company Masimo. The smartwatches will be available for purchase on offline retail stores in the US till December 24, reported TechCrunch.

Apple Watch Series 9, Watch Ultra 2 ban 

Health tech company Masimo has accused Apple of infringement of its patents related to blood oxygen monitoring. These said sensors are reportedly used in Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Notably, Apple introduced its blood oxygen monitoring feature starting Watch Series 6.

Back in 2020, Masimo had also accused Apple of poaching its key talent by hiring its employees including Masimo’s Chief Medical Officer to develop the Apple Watch's blood oxygen monitoring capabilities..

Recently in October 2023, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled in favour of Masimo and issued a partial import ban on its latest watches. It also ordered Apple to stop selling the watches in question in the US. Notably, the older versions including Apple Watch SE are not included in the sales ban.

According to a report by Reuters, Apple spokesperson stated, “Masimo has wrongly attempted to use the ITC to keep a potentially lifesaving product from millions of US consumers while making way for their own watch that copies.”

What is Apple doing about the ban? 

As a pre-emptive measure, should the ruling stand, Apple has removed its Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 from its website in the US. It will stop the sales in the retail stores starting December 24. However, the import ban will not take effect until December 26. The order is under presidential review till December 25. Once the review period is over, it will be revealed if these Apple watches will return to the market or not.

If the ruling is in favour of Masimo again, this will be a massive setback for Apple as wearables, home and accessories business is its second-largest product category after iPhone. As per an official statement from Apple to CNET, “Apple's teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness and safety features. Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that [the] Apple Watch is available to customers."

The company also added that it will "continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the US as soon as possible," if the order stands.

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