Apple owes $634 million to Masimo for blood-oxygen tech

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A federal jury in California ruled Friday that the tech giant owes medical device maker Masimo a hefty $634 million for infringing a patent tied to blood-oxygen monitoring, the very tech behind those little glowing sensors on your wrist.

According to Reuters, the jury decided that the Apple Watch’s workout mode and heart rate notification features crossed the line into Masimo territory. 

Masimo, sounding both vindicated and very on-brand for a medical device company, called the decision “a significant win” and reiterated its mission to protect the innovations that “benefit patients.” 

Masimo basically said: We invented the laser finger thing, and we’d like to keep credit for the laser finger thing.

Apple, unsurprisingly, disagreed and loudly. A spokesperson called the verdict “contrary to the facts” and promised a swift appeal. 

The company also pointed out that Masimo doesn’t even sell consumer gadgets, has sued Apple repeatedly over the past six years, and that this particular patent expired back in 2022. 

In other words: We didn’t steal your tech, and even if we did, your tech is old.

The long-running feud revolves around pulse oximetry, the optical sensor method that measures blood oxygen levels. 

Masimo claims Apple poached key employees (including its chief medical officer) and built Watch features on top of stolen expertise. 

Federal regulators have previously sided with Masimo: the US International Trade Commission banned imports of Apple Watches with blood-oxygen features in 2023, which is why recent Apple Watches mysteriously “forgot” how to measure oxygen.

Apple’s workaround? This year, it unveiled a re-engineered version that offloads the actual blood-oxygen calculations to the user’s iPhone, neatly tiptoeing around the ban. 

Masimo, unimpressed, is now suing US Customs for allowing the updated Watches into the country anyway, while Apple continues trying to get the ban overturned.

And because no tech drama is complete without countersuits, Apple once nabbed a symbolic $250 jury award after arguing that Masimo violated Apple design patents, about enough to buy an Apple Watch band, but not the good ones.

The legal saga, clearly, is far from over.