Apple Is Selling Its Watches , Without Blood Oxygen Feature to Avoid Ban.
In October, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that the blood oxygen sensor in Apple's watches infringed on patents held by Masimo, AP reports.
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The watches were pulled from shelves until a temporary stay was issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals at the end of December.
Masimo claimed that Apple would barely be affected by the sales ban since most of its revenue is made from the iPhone.
Apple asserted that if the ITC's patent order is upheld, it would harm “a pioneering product made by a quintessentially American company that directly employs more than 90,000 employees,” AP reports.
But on Jan.
17, the temporary stay was not extended.
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In order for customers to continue to be able to purchase the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 in the U.S., Apple has turned off the blood oxygen sensor for those models.
As of Jan.
18, the watches can be purchased and will have the Blood Oxygen icon, it just won't do anything.
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However, anyone who purchased the watches beforehand will still have access to the blood oxygen sensor.
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Anyone who bought the watches outside of the U.S. can continue to use the sensor as well
