A U.S. trade court ruled in Apple's favor on Friday, rejecting a request by medical technology company Maxino to reinstate an import ban on the tech giant's Apple Watch. The U.S. International Trade Commission immediately dismissed Mainexinox's lawsuit without reviewing a preliminary ruling made by a commission judge in March. The preliminary ruling found that Apple's redesigned Apple Watch did not infringe Mainex's patents related to blood oxygen detection technology.
Mainexinox, part of Danaher Group, can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington. A spokesman for Mainexon declined to comment on the ruling.
Apple said: "We are grateful for the U.S. International Trade Commission's ruling, which ensures that we can continue to provide our users with this important health feature. For more than six years, Mainex has launched endless legal proceedings against Apple, and nearly all of its claims have been dismissed."
Mainexon previously accused Apple of poaching its employees and stealing pulse oximeter technology used to detect blood oxygen levels. The two companies have been involved in a protracted legal dispute.
In December 2023, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches infringed on Maxino's patents and banned their import. In order to circumvent the ban, Apple temporarily removed the blood oxygen detection function from the watch, and then re-launched an upgraded version of the technology in August last year with the approval of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The upgraded watch no longer directly displays the health data detected by the oximeter, but is presented on associated Apple devices such as the iPhone; Apple's original watch can directly display relevant data.
In addition, Maxino also filed a separate lawsuit against the U.S. Customs Department over its approval of the import of modified watches.
Mainexinox also sued Apple in the California federal court for patent infringement and theft of trade secrets. It won the patent litigation trial in November and was awarded US$634 million in compensation. Apple has said it will appeal the verdict.