• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Strata-gee
  • Contact Us
  • Free Newsletter
  • Sponsor Strata-gee
  • Privacy Policy
  • Latest Posts
  • Strategy
  • Technology
  • Products
  • People
  • Statistics
  • Financial
  • Legal
  • Economic Data
  • Shows & Events

Strata-gee.com

Strategy in TECH...

AudioControl Single Zone Amps
You are here: Home / Law / See Why Apple’s Patent Win is Actually a Victory for Masimo

See Why Apple’s Patent Win is Actually a Victory for Masimo

October 29, 2024 by Ted Leave a Comment

Masimo Freedom smartwatch

More patent decisions are being handed down as several long-running patent lawsuits between Masimo Corporation (Nasdaq: MASI) and Apple Incorporated (Nasdaq: AAPL) wrap up. Last week, a jury in the matter of Apple Inc. (Plaintiff) v. Masimo Corporation and Sound United LLC (Defendants) rendered a verdict on a case where Apple accused Masimo of infringing on six of its Apple Watch patents.

Technically, Apple got a win…but realistically, it was a huge victory for Masimo.

See the outcome of Apple v. Masimo in Delaware court

Both Masimo and Apple continue to fight over patent issues, an effort that seemed to pick up steam once Masimo was successful in getting infringing Apple Watch models temporarily pulled off the market until Apple disabled the infringing technology and Customs allowed them to import these neutered versions for sale again. That rare victory by a relatively small player like Masimo, getting products banned by a huge brand like Apple, caused the tech giant to unleash a flurry of actions against Masimo in California and Delaware courts, in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, at the Appeals Court, and with the International Trade Commission.

Sonance James Small Aperture

A Quick Backgrounder on This Dispute

As long time readers of Strata-gee know, Masimo is a manufacturer of medical products, largely for use in hospitals and other medical facilities. The company has particular expertise in pulse oximetry, the non-invasive measuring of blood oxygen levels. Apple is a large consumer tech company, whose successful Apple Watch product is popular, largely due to its various health tracking sensors.

The two companies engaged in discussions centered around some form of technology partnership or perhaps a joint venture to add pulse oximetry capability to Apple Watch. Those discussions broke down, and according to Masimo, Apple surreptitiously hired its key personnel away – personnel who brought with them company’s trade secrets and technology for use in Apple Watch. Masimo went on to launch a couple of smartwatches of its own that track the users health. The two companies have battled over this situation since that time.

Apple Watch lineup in 2023
Apple was forced to pull the Series 9 & Ultra 2 Watch models off the market until they could alter them to disable the technology that infringed on Masimo patents [Click to enlarge]

Not All Cases are Going Well for Apple

Not all of those cases by Apple are going well for them. As mentioned above, Masimo was able to convince the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban certain Apple Watch models that infringed on Masimo patents. And now, another case in point: a lawsuit that came to fruition last week, when a jury returned its verdict handing Apple a win…sort of.

Filed back in late 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, in this particular case Apple alleged that the Masimo smartwatch (and accessory charger) had infringed on three of Apple’s utility patents and another three design patents. The matter was being heard before the Honorable District Judge Jennifer L. Hall.

AudioControl Single Zone Amps

Over the last two years, there has been an intense back-and-forth between the parties with Judge Hall finally whittling down all of the claims to just one claim against each patent for a total of six matters to be decided by a jury. That trial was held last week and lasted a full five days of testimony. At the end of the day on Friday, a quick verdict came in from the jury.

The Patents at Issue

DESIGN PATENTS

  • U.S. Patent No. D883,279 (the “D’279 Patent”)
  • U.S. Patent No. D947,842 (the “D’842 Patent”)
  • U.S. Patent No. D735,131 (the “D’131 Patent”)

UTILITY PATENTS

  • Claim 16 of U.S. Patent No. 10,627,783 (the “‘783 Patent”)
  • Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 10,987,054 (the “‘054 Patent”)
  • Claim 13 of U.S. Patent No. 11,474,483 (the “‘483 Patent”)
A Masimo patent
An illustration from a Masimo patent (not directly related to this case) [Click to enlarge]

Apple: Masimo Infringement Was ‘Willfull’

Apple additionally contends in this action that Masimo’s infringement was “willful.” The concept of a willful infringement is important in patent litigation, as it means that the defendant knowingly and deliberately infringed on a patent that it fully knew about. Plaintiffs must offer “clear and convincing evidence” to establish willfulness – a higher standard of proof than necessary in other patent matters which only require “a preponderance of evidence.”

As Judge Hall noted in her instructions to the jurors, “Defendants Masimo and Sound United deny that they have infringed the Asserted Claims of these patents and contend that certain asserted claims are invalid.”

Masimo Products at the Center of Apple’s Lawsuit

Without getting too deep into the weeds on all of this, Apple’s claims were related to the following Masimo products – W1 smartwatch, Freedom smartwatch, and Health Module. For each of these models, there is an Original Design (the first version of the smartwatch) and a Wave Design (a newer design smartwatch that replaced the Original Design version). Apple further alleged that an accessory Charger from Masimo also infringed on their patent (D’131 patent).

What this means is that for each product, the Original Model and the Wave Model each represents a separate infringement claim.

The Verdict

In the matter of the three design patents, the jury found in favor of Apple in the case of the D’842 Patent for the Original Design (discontinued models) of the Masimo W1, Freedom, and Health Module, as well as the Original Design of the Charger (D’131 Patent). On all of Masimo’s current products, the jury found no infringement.

A page from the jury verdict form
From the actual verdict form – in this case announcing the jury’s decision on the Apple utility patents. The jury found “NO” infringement by Masimo here. [Click to enlarge]

In the case of the utility patents, the jury found totally in favor of Masimo, finding no infringement of any Apple utility patent in any Masimo product – Original or Wave. Furthermore, the jury found that Masimo successfully proved “by clear and convincing evidence” that Claim 13 of Apple’s ‘483 Patent is invalid due to obviousness.

Apple Awarded a Grand Total of $250

In a final punctuation of this whole matter, the jury awarded Apple – a $3.55 trillion company – just $250 as a “statutory remedy” for Masimo’s infringement. By the way, $250 is the minimum that the jury could penalize Masimo for this infringement.

“Apple told the court that the ‘ultimate purpose’ of its lawsuit was not money, but to win an injunction against sales of Masimo’s smartwatches after an infringement ruling,” according to a report by the Reuters News Agency. Apple added that it was “glad the jury’s decision today will protect the innovations we advance on behalf of our customers.”

An Apple patent
An illustration from an Apple patent (not directly related to this case) [Click to enlarge]

Even More Pleased With This Outcome is Masimo

Masimo, on the other hand, seemed much more pleased with the outcome, saying it appreciated the jury’s verdict “in favor of Masimo and against Apple on nearly all issues,” Reuters noted. The health products company added that the jury’s decision “…only applied to a ‘discontinued module and charger.’ Apple primarily sought an injunction against Masimo’s current products, and the jury’s verdict is a victory for Masimo on that issue.”

Masimo said this lawsuit was all about retaliation for its original win against Apple late last year. It also noted that Apple deliberately chose this venue (Delaware District Court) in order to avoid the California court where most of the patent dispute has been heard.

Learn more about Apple at apple.com.

See all that Masimo has to offer at masimo.com.

Share this post:

  • Tweet
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • More
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: Brands, Feature, Law, Management, Manufacturers, News, Technology Tagged With: Apple, Apple Watch, Freedom, Masimo, smartwatch, Sound United, W1

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Sign-Up for Our FREE Newsletter

loader

Latest Posts

T-Day+1: Tariffs…And So It Begins…

STORY UPDATED 4/30/25 - See a Selection of Tariff Increases from Around the … [Read More...] about T-Day+1: Tariffs…And So It Begins…

Strata-gee Founder Hospitalized After Suffering Injuries in Accident on Monday

Strata-gee Founder & Chief Content Creator Ted Green was hospitalized on … [Read More...] about Strata-gee Founder Hospitalized After Suffering Injuries in Accident on Monday

  • T-Day+1: Tariffs…And So It Begins…
  • Masimo.com Has Been Down for ‘A Few Days’
  • Gentex, Owner of Onkyo & Klipsch, Reports 1Q/2025 Results; Sales & Profits Declined
  • LVMH: The Small Shudder That Rocked the Luxury World; Is Luxury Spending Declining?

Categories

Sponsors

Crestron Infra-Bass
AudioControl Single Zone Amps
Sonance James Small Aperture
Savant
Oasys Residential Technology Group

Tag Cloud

acquisition Amazon Apple AudioControl B&W Bowers & Wilkins CEDIA CEDIA Expo CES Control4 Core Brands COVID-19 Crestron D&M Holdings Denon Emerald Expositions Foxconn Gibson Brands Gibson Guitar Google Henry Juszkiewicz Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. housing starts Integra Joe Kiani LG Marantz Masimo Nortek OLED Onkyo Panasonic patent infringement Pioneer Samsung Savant Sharp smart home SnapAV Snap One Sonos Sony Sound United SpeakerCraft Toshiba

Footer

Got News?

HEY PR & Marketing Pros: Have NEWS for Strata-gee readers?

Send it to: HotNews@strata-gee.com

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Sponsor Strata-gee

Strata-gee Ads

Archives

Translate

Ted Green Bio

A former dealer, manufacturer, distributor & more. Focusing on business strategy, my goal is to help you make better decisions for greater success.

Follow Ted Green

  • Facebook
  • X
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2025 Strata-gee.com · The Stratecon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved · Log in

%d