The pulse oximeter feature on Apple Watch units sold inside the U.S. was disabled by Apple using software/firmware updates starting in the middle of January 2024. The models affected were the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. It also affected the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Series 11 when they were released. The reason why Apple had to disable the feature had to do with a claim from medical technology company Masimo that Apple’s pulse ox feature infringed on its patents.
Apple’s pulse oximeter workaround for Apple Watch faces an ITC review
The International Trade Commission (ITC) agreed and issued an import ban blocking affected Apple Watch units with the feature from getting shipped to the U.S. Apple tried to come up with a workaround, but that became impossible, and Apple decided against licensing Masimo’s technology. As a result, the tech giant had no choice but to shut down the feature in the U.S.
This past August, Apple announced that it had developed a new version of the feature that was disseminated with watchOS 11.6.1 and iOS 18.6.1. While the Apple Watch still uses the tech inside the timepiece to measure the Blood Oxygen reading, the calculations and analysis are done on a pared iPhone. The results will be shown only in the Health app of a paired iPhone under the Respiratory section.
The ITC wants to make sure that Apple’s workaround is permitted under its import ban
However, Apple is not off the hook yet. The ITC has filed papers seeking to hold a new proceeding to determine whether the reworked solution from Apple also infringes on Masimo’s patents. In the filing, the ITC wrote that it “has determined to institute a combined modification and enforcement proceeding” to determine whether the revised pulse ox feature for the Apple Watch is permitted under the ITC import ban that forced Apple to disable the feature in the first place. This will be the sole issue to be resolved by the commission.
“Through its parallel district court litigation and the present petition, Masimo seeks to pressure the Commission to exceed its statutory authority and prevent millions of Americans from accessing Apple’s redesigned Blood Oxygen feature
-Apple’s latest filing on ITC case
The ITC says that the redesigned version was not included in the original investigation, which gives the federal agency the justification to hold a new procedure over the revised technology now used by Apple. Part of what the ITC will have to determine is whether having a paired iPhone perform the necessary calculations and analysis, and display the results means that Apple is no longer infringing on Masimo’s patents.
What the feature does
Apple pointed out during the original hearings that Masimo’s complaint was based on a Masimo Watch that wasn’t available at the time. In a recent filing about the case, Apple wrote, “Masimo has no meaningful domestic industry product that would benefit from this exclusion—its asserted domestic industry product, the Masimo W1, has still not been sold in more than de minimis quantities even two years after the conclusion of the underlying Investigation, and Masimo no longer sells any version of the Masimo W1 to consumers.”
The redesigned Apple Watch pulse oximeter uses a paired iPhone for the results. | Image credit-Apple
So, what does the pulse oximeter feature do? It measures the oxygen saturation of your blood. More precisely, it measures how much oxygen your red blood cells are carrying from the lungs throughout the rest of the body. If you’re healthy, this reading should be within the range of 95% and 100%. Readings below 90% are considered a sign that the person has an underlying medical issue.
During the pandemic, people with a pulse oximeter reading of under 80% while not having any classic signs of distress (noticeable shortness of breath or blue lips) were said to be acclimated to the lack of oxygen, which was said to show that the person had a severe case of COVID. Thus, a low pulse ox reading often was a sign that a person needed to get medical help before he started looking or feeling sick.
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