Apple's current implementation of blood oxygen sensing in the U.S. does not infringe patents owned by Masimo, and Apple will not face a revival of the import ban, said this week.
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After Apple was found to have infringed Masimo's patents related to blood oxygen sensing, the Apple Watch faced an import ban in the United States, a development that led Apple to temporarily halt sales of the device in December 2023 before obtaining a temporary suspension. Apple disabled the blood oxygen sensing feature in January 2024 and was able to continue selling the Apple Watch without this functionality.
In August 2025, Apple found a solution and was able to restore blood oxygen sensing for Apple Watch owners in the USA. The data is collected from the blood oxygen sensor on the Apple Watch, but processed on a connected iPhone instead of the watch itself, and the resulting information can be viewed only on the iPhone. Apple stated that the updated process does not violate the ITC ban or Masimo's patents and was approved by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
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Masimo did not agree with the decision and quickly filed a lawsuit against CBP, accusing the agency of acting illegally and exceeding its authority. Masimo also pressured the ITC to examine whether Apple’s solution violated the original import ban.
The ITC ultimately ruled in favor of Apple and stated that Apple's circumvention does not infringe Masimo's patents. Given that today's decision is preliminary, the full committee will need to confirm the decision.
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Although Apple won with the ITC, Masimo came out ahead in a separate appellate decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC's original 2023 decision that led to the import ban on the Apple Watch. The appellate court stated that the Apple Watch indeed infringed Masimo's patents and refused to overturn the ban.
