- A ban on Apple Watch blood oxygen readings has been overturned
- A judge has now dismissed the appeal against this decision
- Apple fans could soon see the Blood Oxygen feature return in full
Apple has been involved in a long-running dispute with medical technology company Masimo over its top smartwatches, with the latter claiming that all the top Apple Watches infringe on its patents.
In December 2023, it led to an import ban for several Apple Watch models in the US, including the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Yet in a significant move, the legal decision was recently overturned – and now a judge has refused to hear Masimo’s appeal, scoring a major victory for Apple.
Specifically, Masimo had asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to reinstate the import ban that was recently lifted against the Apple Watch models. That decision was made in March and ruled that Apple’s devices did not infringe Masimo’s patents. But a judge at the ITC has now refused to grant Masimo’s request (via Pakinomist) and as a result the case has been closed.
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What does it mean to you? Quite simply, this means that you should soon be able to buy an Apple Watch with its blood oxygen feature enabled. If you want an Apple Watch and that kind of medical tracking is important to you, this will be good news.
While this latest development may seem to end the back and forth between the two companies, Masimo still has other options. It could appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, although the company has not yet commented on whether it will do so. Time will tell how far you will go before ending the dispute.
Not over yet
The original court ruling against Apple meant that the Cupertino company was forced to disable the blood oxygen feature from all of its top Apple Watches, completely depriving users of the ability to check their health in this important way.
Later, Apple devised a solution whereby users could take a blood oxygen reading on their watch and then have that statistic displayed on their iPhone, which apparently bypassed the ruling. But it was still inferior to being able to measure your blood oxygen level and see the result on the same device.
Now that Masimo’s appeal has been rejected, however, none of that should be necessary anymore. The way has been cleared for Apple to restore its blood oxygen measurement feature to its wearables, bringing back a tool that has been sorely lacking on its devices.
After Masimo’s appeal was dismissed, Apple said: “We thank the ITC for its decision, which ensures that we can continue to offer this important health feature to our users. For more than six years, Masimo has waged a relentless legal campaign against Apple, and nearly all of its claims have been dismissed.”
But with Masimo still able to appeal — and with Apple appealing a separate $634 million judgment it lost in November 2025 — we may not have seen the end of this long saga.
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