- Apple has pulled the newest Apple Watches off its store shelves in the US.
- That’s due to a patent dispute with health-tech company Masimo over a blood oxygen tracker.
- Scroll to learn more about Joe Kiani, the CEO and founder of Masimo.
It just got a lot harder to snag a new Apple Watch this holiday season, thanks to the tech behemoth’s patent dispute with a lesser-known company, Masimo, over a blood oxygen tracker.
The iPhone maker has officially removed the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from its physical and online stores in the US. The move comes after the International Trade Commission ruled in October that these latest watch versions include a blood oxygen tracker that violates patents held by Masimo, a health technology company.
“This is not an accidental infringement,” Joe Kiani, the CEO and founder of Masimo, told Bloomberg. “This is a deliberate taking of our intellectual property.” Kiani didn’t respond to Business Insider’s request for comment before publication of this story.
The news has spurred many to ask how it’ll affect Apple, which has appealed the ruling, saying the watch ban will cause “irreparable harm” to its business. One analyst estimated the ban could cost the company between $300 to $400 million in sales. But there’s another question that’s surfacing: Who is Kiani, the Masimo leader going head-to-head with Apple? Scroll to find out more.
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