Apple Ordered to Pay $634M for Blood-Oxygen Patent Clash

In a major legal setback for Apple, a federal jury in California has ruled that the tech giant must pay $634 million to Masimo, a medical-monitoring company, for infringing a patent tied to blood-oxygen reading technology. The verdict centers on features in the Apple Watch, including workout mode and heart rate notifications, which the jury found violated Masimo’s patent rights.

Apple has voiced strong disagreement with the verdict and announced plans to appeal, while Masimo described the outcome as a “significant win” in safeguarding its intellectual property.

The dispute is part of a broader, high-stakes battle between the Irvine-based company and Apple, with allegations that Apple recruited Masimo employees and incorporated Masimo’s pulse oximetry technology into its watches without authorization. This clash has already led to a U.S. trade tribunal blocking imports of Apple’s Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023, prompting Apple to temporarily remove the blood-oxygen feature and later reintroduce it after approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is now holding a new proceeding to determine if Apple’s updated watches should face the import ban. Meanwhile, Masimo continues legal action against Customs over the decision, while Apple challenges the ban at a federal appeals court.

This ruling adds another chapter to a complex legal saga in which Apple and Masimo have clashed repeatedly. In 2023, a California trade-secret case ended in a mistrial, and last year Apple won a nominal $250 verdict in Delaware regarding design patent disputes.

The outcome highlights the growing tensions at the intersection of wearable technology and medical innovations, signaling that intellectual property battles in the tech sector are only intensifying.