There are reports that Apple’s legal dispute with device manufacturer Masimo over the Apple Watch dates back to 2013 and stemmed from an email Masimo sent to Tim Cook. The email sparked not only a new Apple Watch feature but also a headache-inducing legal battle that resulted in the wearable device being banned from sale in the United States.
According to Bloomberg, buried in the legal documents is an email sent by scientist Marcelo Lamego to Tim Cook in the early morning of 2013. The email boldly claimed that the scientist could help "develop a wave of new technologies that will make Apple the No. 1 brand in the medical, fitness and health markets."
Just 10 hours later, Lamego was contacted by an Apple recruiter, and within weeks he was working as an engineer at Apple, developing health sensors. Within months, Lamego applied for more than a dozen patents for sensors and algorithms used to measure people’s blood oxygen levels.
The problem is that Lamego was previously the chief technology officer of Masimo's sister company, Cercacor Laboratories.
The email and the offer are believed to be the reason for Masimo's lawsuit against Apple, which claims in its patent infringement lawsuit that it was part of an effort to poach employees.
Lamego worked as a research scientist at Masimo in 2003 and became Cercacor's chief technology officer in 2006.
Masimo said that Lamego did not understand how to develop blood oxygen function before joining the company, but used the experience he gained at the company to assist Apple. Lamego resigned a few months after joining Apple, and Massimo said Apple kicked him out as soon as it got what it needed for the sensor.
Apple employee Steve Hotelling explained that Lamego left because he was not a good fit for the company, citing stories of conflicts with managers, requests for multimillion-dollar budgets and a desire to hire engineers without approval.
Apple did have contact with Lamego before this email, a year earlier in 2013. Apple executives met with Massimo at the time to secure technology for the Apple Watch, but Massimo believed Apple was using the meeting to learn about its own technology and prepare to hire others.
While Lamego didn't leave Apple at the time, he apparently changed his mind after Masimo CEO Joe Kiani decided not to make him the CTO of Masimo. Apple also hired Masimo's former chief medical officer and 20 other employees.
While the email might have been considered a smoking gun for Masimo's lawyers, it didn't really play a role in Masimo's main lawsuit against Apple. A senior Apple engineer testified that development of the blood oxygen feature actually began months after Lamego left the company.
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