What’s the backstory here?
To get the full scope of the drama, we have to turn the clock back ten years.
In 2013, Masimo, a health tech company based in Irvine, Calif., developed a mobile pulse oximeter (a sensor for tracking oxygen levels in your blood) that could be paired for use with the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
After the announcement, a
Wall Street Journal report found, an Apple executive reached out to Masimo to discuss how the iPhone maker “could or should” integrate some of Masimo’s tech into future products.
While those conversations unfolded, Apple hired dozens of Masimo's employees, including Michael O'Reilly — the Masimo chief medical officer who, shortly thereafter, became Apple's vice president of medical technology.
Fast forward to 2020, and the tension between the two companies came to a head. In January of that year, Masimo sued Apple alleging (among other things) misappropriation of trade secrets and patent infringement.
Later that same year, Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 6, its first wearable with — you guessed it — a tiny, integrated pulse oximeter. (As we found shortly after launch, the feature
could at times be inaccurate.)
While that first lawsuit ended in a mistrial, the legal battles between the companies didn’t end there. Apple then sued Masimo in Delaware, but a second, successful patent infringement lawsuit Masimo filed with the ITC prompted the import and sales ban Apple is now facing.
) and saying he'll pass it on to the US sales team.
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