Posted on 10/31/2023 12:35:32 PM PDT by Red Badger
Apple could see one of its leading products barred from being imported into the United States sometime around Christmas unless the White House steps in or a patent dispute is resolved.
The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled last week that specific models of the Apple Watch breach patents held by the medical gadget designer Masimo. The company now has 60 days either to resolve the matter or face an outright ban. The current patent series, as they stand, only apply to Apple Watch models from the Series 6,7, 8, and 9 collections since they contain the medical trackers that appear to resemble Masimo's patents.
If the matter is not resolved by Dec. 26, the company could see the latest versions of its products unavailable to U.S. users in 2024. American consumers will have till Christmas to get the latest Apple Watch, barring any legal changes.
Masimo alleges that Apple's reputation for innovation is unearned and that it has made a practice of "efficient infringement," according to the New York Times. This is when a company uses another company's technology and deals with the legal fallout afterward. Apple, as a trillion-dollar company, has the funding required to shoulder any possible legal fees or court cases.
Apple maintains that it respected Masimo's intellectual property, according to court documents. However, Masimo presented evidence that Apple had hired its former chief medical officer and 20 other employees from the company. This indirect process would have allowed Apple access to the intellectual power behind Masimo in designing its own products. For example, this could apply to Apple reportedly adapting the oxygen tracker in the Apple Watch from Masimo's past work.
If Apple wants to challenge this possible import ban, it can challenge the ITC's decision in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, according to Bloomberg Law. This would not delay the ban, however. The company could also lobby the U.S. trade representative to veto the ban.
If the import ban is not stopped before Dec. 26, the ban will last until August 2028.
Apple Ping!...............
A LOT of watches have those same features.
I just bought a different watch for my MIL, who is having extreme AFIB issues. She had a pacemaker installed yesterday. She’s back in surgery because one of the pacemaker leads came loose from her heart.
Her new watch monitors BP, Blood Sugar, Temp, ECG, Heart rate, and a bunch of other things.
You meme........iWatch.....................
It is not a “conflict.”
Apple stole somebody else’s patented product and incorporated it into their watch.
Apple is the Disney of ChiCom tech.
Ha! Winner!
I have AFIB and a pacemaker too, so good luck to your MIL.
You wrote that she’s back in surgery. Is she in the Cath Lab? Maybe that’s considered surgery. Anyway, good luck to her.
They had to reinsert one of the probes.
She’s doing better today. I think they’re discharging her after lunch today.
If you want on or off the Apple/Mac/iOS Ping List, Freepmail me.
From my patent experience, and IMPROVEMENT upon a patent, is a distinctly new patent.
Can Apple show improvements over the Masimo patent?
Blood Pressure, and Blood Sugar without penetrating the skin has been the Holy Grail for decades. I know Apple was accused of racism, because black athletes with tattoos claimed that the Apple Watch had difficulty maintaining heart pulse detection on their wrists (so, obviously racism, right? /sarcasm). I hope the watch is accurate, as this would be an advancement that would benefit everyone.
Paging Elizabeth Holmes...
I’m finding US20220133189 assigned to Maximo (Irvine, CA) issued 5/5/2022:
An active-pulse blood analysis system, comprising: an optical emitter that that illuminates a tissue site with multiple wavelengths of optical radiation; an optical sensor that outputs sensor signals responsive to the optical radiation after attenuation by pulsatile blood flow within the tissue site; a monitor that receives the sensor signals and generates an arterial pulse ratio and an active pulse ratio according to the wavelengths; one or more memory devices storing an arterial calibration curve that relates arterial pulse ratios to arterial oxygen saturation values (SpO2); one or more memory devices storing an active pulse calibration curve that relates active pulse ratios to arterial oxygen saturation values (SpO2AP); one or more processors configured to: select a first arterial oxygen saturation value (SpO2) from the arterial calibration curve based on the arterial pulse ratio generated by the monitor, and select a second arterial oxygen saturation value (SpO2AP) from the active pulse calibration curve based on the active pulse ratio generated by the monitor; and a selection module that outputs a third arterial oxygen saturation value (SpO2M) selected from one of the first arterial oxygen saturation value (SpO2) and the second arterial oxygen saturation value (SpO2AP) based on a signal quality input.
And that's where lawyers, juries, and judges come in.
The dental office I managed was using non-invasive-infrared finger sensor technology similar to that 35 years ago. It’s nothing new. NASA developed it for the Mercury Program astronaut monitoring back in the late 50s. Then it was a clip on through the earlobe sensor. Of course those 35 years ago had the sensors connected to a fairly large box of electronics to do the work. Like all NASA development work from that era, the concepts are in the public domain.
Pulses have been read by similar tech on the Apple Watch from the first model released in April 2015, eight years ago. They used infrared sensors through the wrist skin. They were capable of SpO2 for some time, just not accurate enough for medical grade reliability for Apple to allow it, even to permit an API for an AppleWatch app by a third party until a couple years ago. Now they are.
Heck, there was an iPhone App that claimed to do it released about ten years ago. Apple pulled it from the AppleApp store because it was too inaccurate to be medically useful. Unfortunately , its accuracy was plus or minus 5% which ain’t good enough! 😂 I posted it on FreeRepublic when it was released. Its publisher thought it could be used by medical professionals if they didn’t have a pro-version with them. Samsung even released one of their top end phones with its key feature being the SpO2 sensor. It’s dedicated blood oximeter was not much more accurate than the Apple App plus or minus 5% and in addition to use it, the user had to keep the built-in infrared sensor on the back of the phone pressed to the patient’s finger for an extended time.
So for a Johnny-come-lately company claiming patent infringement on their supposedly unique approach merely because Apple hired some scientists who had worked for them is absurd. It just isn’t unique. Hell, I can go on Amazon annd find probably find seven dozen Blood Oximeter sensors made by as many different companies, most predating 5/5/2022. The one I’ve been using since I got my diagnosis of low blood oxygen due to long haul Covid I bought for $12.99 from Amazon in late March 2020.
SpO2 sensing by certain wavelengths is science and not patentable… the specific technique and hardware/software to sense it is. Unless they can show their code, hardware, or circuitry in AppleWatch, they don’t have a leg to stand on. Just because it does something their patent does in their overbroad claims does not equal infringement… especially when there are thousands of devices already on the market for decades that have been doing what their claims cite as unique to their 2022 patent. Prior art is a complete defense that will invalidate a patent before it ever gets to court!
Improving is not required, merely different. This is really old technology, most of which was developed by NASA for the Space Program in the 50s and 60s, and in the public domain. The method of how it is done is patentable, not the idea. Software, circuitry, hardware… but not the science.
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