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Apple pauses sales of latest Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models following patent dispute

nicoreese

nicoreese

Member
Jan 18, 2018
781
www.macrumors.com

Apple Pausing Sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in U.S. Due to Patent Dispute

Apple today said it will be pausing sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the U.S. later this week due to an ongoing patent...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

Since 2020 a company called Masimo has accused Apple of poaching employees and stealing trade secrets for the blood oxygen sensing features on Apple Watch. The ITC has ruled for a sale ban in October and has given time until December 25 for President Biden to overrule the decision. It's looking like this is not going to happen.

Apple's statement in full:
A Presidential Review Period is in progress regarding an order from the U.S. International Trade Commission on a technical intellectual property dispute pertaining to Apple Watch devices containing the Blood Oxygen feature. While the review period will not end until December 25, Apple is preemptively taking steps to comply should the ruling stand. This includes pausing sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Apple.com starting December 21, and from Apple retail locations after December 24. The decision does not impact sales of the devices in other countries at this time.

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 Apple Watch is available to customers.

Should the order stand, Apple will continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.
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I Must Not Tell Lies

I Must Not Tell Lies

Member
Oct 22, 2019
379
📣 Poaching employees is not a crime 📣

It amazes me how companies continue to repeat the "poaching" complaint, even in lawsuits, as if there is some sort of law against doing that. There isn't! And for good reason! Workers should be free to move to other employers whenever they want! Employers proactively offering better pay to entice them to make the switch is evidence of the free market working as intended. (To the extent that it does work at all... which is not very well at all. But this is a rare example of it actually working!) In fact, trying to stop "poaching" is actually illegal, and we call that "wage suppression", and companies like Apple have paid huge fines for doing so.

It's even more frustrating when the press repeats "poaching" claims uncritically, implying that there is something somehow legally wrong with it, when in fact the exact opposite is true.
 
CloseTalker

CloseTalker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,007
I Must Not Tell Lies said:
📣 Poaching employees is not a crime 📣

It amazes me how companies continue to repeat the "poaching" complaint, even in lawsuits, as if there is some sort of law against doing that. There isn't! And for good reason! Workers should be free to move to other employers whenever they want! Employers proactively offering better pay to entice them to make the switch is evidence of the free market working as intended. (To the extent that it does work at all... which is not very well at all. But this is a rare example of it actually working!) In fact, trying to stop "poaching" is actually illegal, and we call that "wage suppression", and companies like Apple have paid huge fines for doing so.

It's even more frustrating when the press repeats "poaching" claims uncritically, implying that there is something somehow legally wrong with it, when in fact the exact opposite is true.
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it's not the poaching that seems to be being debated, it's poaching people with bespoke (and potentially patented) information they're bringing over with them. Which is potentially illegal
 
I Must Not Tell Lies

I Must Not Tell Lies

Member
Oct 22, 2019
379
CloseTalker said:
it's not the poaching that seems to be being debated, it's poaching people with bespoke (and potentially patented) information they're bringing over with them. Which is potentially illegal
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Having knowledge in your head can't be illegal, no matter how much some companies wish it were so. And patents are not secret. Patents make the knowledge public and require a license fee, that's the entire point of them.
 
machtia

machtia

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,624
I Must Not Tell Lies said:
Having knowledge in your head can't be illegal, no matter how much some companies wish it were so. And patents are not secret. Patents make the knowledge public and require a license fee, that's the entire point of them.
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Poaching comes up in the context of trade secrets, not patents. And courts have found poaching for the purpose of stealing trade secrets to be unlawful. Whether that ought to be the case is a separate question.
 
J-Wood

J-Wood

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,914
Wow, I'm honestly shocked this is going to happen, and right before Christmas. They are going to lose a ton of sales of last minute Apple Watch gifts.
 

Deleted member 158819

Sep 19, 2023
2,257
J-Wood said:
Wow, I'm honestly shocked this is going to happen, and right before Christmas. They are going to lose a ton of sales of last minute Apple Watch gifts.
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They're timing it pretty well to avoid that. Though does this mean it'll still be available at other stores?
In a statement shared with 9to5Mac, Apple said the Series 9 and Ultra 2 will no longer be available to purchase on Apple's online store in the U.S. starting December 21 (after 12 p.m. Pacific Time), or from Apple retail stores in the U.S. after December 24.
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Milennia

Milennia

Prophet of Truth - Community Resetter
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,416
Pausing watch sales entirely is a really big deal, especially during the holidays, damn
 
Syne

Syne

It's Pronounced "Aerith"
Member
Feb 5, 2023
6,444
UK
So is this just in the US? I was literally going to buy one this week lol
 
HammerOfThor

HammerOfThor

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,869
I bought this watch for my mom for Christmas because of this feature that she needs(among a few other features). I wonder what recourse there is if they disable it?
 
Primus

Primus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,946
The article says it but the thread title does not, sales are only to be suspended in the US. Rest of the world will continue apace.
 
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nicoreese

nicoreese

Member
Jan 18, 2018
781
HammerOfThor said:
I bought this watch for my mom for Christmas because of this feature that she needs(among a few other features). I wonder what recourse there is if they disable it?
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Not very likely. If they could have done that they would've already instead of pausing sales. They will either pay license fees for the patents, take additional legal action or work around the existing patents.
 
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nicoreese

nicoreese

Member
Jan 18, 2018
781
In an update from Bloomberg, Mark Gurman says that Apple is working on a software fix while Masimo believes that hardware changes are required. Ultimately, the US Customs agency has to decide which type of mitigation is enough.
 
RowdyReverb

RowdyReverb

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,971
Austin, TX
This is really interesting. Masimo isn't just some patent squatter either, they have been a leading force in bringing this important tech into hospitals over the past decade+. Honestly, I had just assumed Apple had licensed the tech from them!
 
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