Apple resumes sale of watches after appeals court lifts US ban
- An appellate court in Washington had issued an interim stay of the ITC’s decision earlier on Wednesday, while Apple seeks to overturn the decision
- Apple was forced to stop sales of one of its signature products after the ITC found the company infringed Masimo patents related to measuring blood-oxygen saturation
Apple said it would put its latest smartwatch models back on sale in its US retail stores on Wednesday after it won a court ruling in a patent fight, providing a quick reprieve for its US$17 billion business.
The company said its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 would also resume online sales from Thursday noon, Pacific time.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) had banned the import and sale of the products at Apple’s official channels after it ruled in favour of Masimo, a medical device maker, in a patent infringement case. An appellate court in Washington had issued an interim stay of the ITC’s decision earlier on Wednesday, while Apple seeks to overturn the decision.
“Apple’s teams have worked tirelessly over many years to develop technology that empowers users with industry-leading health, wellness and safety features, and we are pleased the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has stayed the exclusion order, while it considers our request to stay the order pending our full appeal,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement.
The watches will be back on shelves beginning on Wednesday at some of Apple’s around 270 retail locations across the country, with wider availability by Saturday, the company said.
Apple was forced to stop sales of one of its signature products after the ITC found the company infringed a pair of Masimo patents related to measuring blood-oxygen saturation. Apple pulled the watches from its website on December 21 and in retail stores on Christmas Eve.
