Apple to Drop Blood Oxygen Feature to Avoid Watch Import Ban: Reports

• Apple is able to nix a blood oxygen characteristic from its new Apple Watch fashions.
• A few of Apple’s smartwatches have been the topic of a patent dispute with medtech firm Masimo.
• The redesign will seemingly solely occur if Apple loses its attraction of the ban, per Bloomberg.

Apple has discovered a brand new workaround for the import ban on its newest Apple Watch fashions.

The corporate will take away blood oxygen performance from its Apple Watch Collection 9 and Extremely 2 if its attraction of the import ban is unsuccessful, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported.

Medical system maker Masimo has claimed sure Apple Watch fashions infringe on its blood oxygen monitoring expertise patents. In a Monday submitting, which has not been made public, Masimo mentioned US Customs and Border Safety “determined that Apple’s redesign falls outdoors the scope” of the US Worldwide Commerce Fee’s import ban on the Collection 9 and Extremely 2, per Bloomberg.

Masimo additionally reportedly mentioned within the submitting that Apple informed US Customs and Border Safety that watches with the redesign “definitively don’t comprise pulse oximetry performance.”

“Apple’s declare that its redesigned watch doesn’t comprise pulse oximetry is a constructive step towards accountability,” a Masimo spokesperson mentioned in a press release.

Apple informed Enterprise Insider the Apple Watch Collection 9 and Extremely 2 are nonetheless out there with the blood oxygen software. The corporate expects the US Court docket of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to rule as early as Tuesday on its movement for a keep for a full attraction interval of seemingly no less than a yr.

The import ban on Apple’s newest smartwatches initially took impact on December 26. The US Court docket of Appeals for the Federal Circuit quickly paused it the subsequent day, permitting Apple to renew gross sales of the watch fashions whereas it continues to struggle the ban.