- A ban on Apple Watch blood oxygen metrics has been overturned
- A judge has now dismissed the appeal against that decision
- Apple fans could soon see the blood oxygen feature return in full
Apple has been involved in a long-running dispute with medical tech firm Masimo over its top smartwatches, with the latter claiming that all the best Apple Watches infringe on its patents.
In December 2023, that led to an import ban for several Apple Watch models in the US, including the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Yet in a momentous move, that legal decision was recently overturned — and now a judge has declined 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 on Masimo’s patents. But a judge at the ITC has now declined to grant Masimo’s request (via Reuters), and as a result the case has been closed.
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What does that mean for you? Quite simply, it means 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, that’ll be great news.
While this latest development might appear 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 hasn’t yet commented on whether it will do so. Time will tell how far it wants to 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 best Apple Watches, entirely depriving users of the ability to check their health in this key way.
Later, Apple devised a workaround whereby users could take a blood oxygen reading on their Watch and then have that statistic displayed on their iPhone, which apparently skirted around the judgment. But it was still inferior to being able to measure your blood oxygen levels 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 and bring back a tool that has been sorely missing from its devices.
Speaking after Masimo’s appeal was rejected, Apple said: “We thank the ITC for its decision, which ensures 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 rejected.”
Yet with Masimo still being able to appeal – and with Apple appealing against a separate $634 million judgment it lost in November 2025 – we might not have seen the end of this lengthy saga.
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alexblake.techradar@gmail.com (Alex Blake)
