A US appeals court has found in favor of Masimo in its fight against Apple over pulse oximetry patents, but in the court that matters, a ruling makes it clear that there won’t be another ban on the Apple Watch.
In the now six year-long legal battle between medical technology firm Masimo and Apple, this particular appeal concerns a ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC ruled that Apple had stolen trade secrets and violated patents with its blood pulse oximeter in the Apple Watch.
Masimo wanted a ban on the Apple Watch and in October 2023, the ITC issued an order barring Apple from importing the Apple Watch into the US, and in December denied the company’s appeal against it.
Now as first spotted by IP Fray, the US Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit has backed the original ITC ruling. The text of the court filing is a single sentence saying that the ruling has been affirmed, and gives no explanation for this conclusion.
The listing for this filing says a little more, that the appeal was “terminated on the merits after oral argument.” Apple will be required to pay costs.
However, this ruling on March 19, 2026, followed a ruling by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) the day before. That filing, presumably written knowing the appeals court’s decision, states that Apple does not now have to do anything more to remedy the case.
Listing each of the specific patents named in the various cases, the ITC says it finds that Apple does not infringe any of them. It repeatedly refers to what it calls the “Apple Redesign 2 Watch,” presumably meaning that Apple’s software update removed the claimed infringements.
“We thank the Administrative Law Judge for her careful consideration, and are pleased with the decision,” Apple told AppleInsider and likely other venues as well. “For six years, Masimo has brought dozens of false claims against Apple, nearly all of which have been rejected. We will continue innovating to create industry-leading health, wellness, and life-saving features for our users.”
How we got here
The original lawsuit was filed with the US District Court for the Central District of California by Masimo in 2020. It was then followed in 2021 by Masimo’s complaint to the ITC.
By 2023, the initial lawsuit had ended with a mistrial after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. But this separate ITC case was won by Masimo in January 2023.
The rear sensor of the Apple Watch Series 9 with its health senors
The ITC recommended a ban on the US import of any Apple Watch models that violated Masimo’s patents. The recommendation triggered a 60-day review period within the White House, which could have decided against the ban — but didn’t.
With the ban then certain to come into affect for the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, Apple stopped importing and selling the affected models ahead of the ban taking place.
At the same time, however, Apple worked on the idea of a software update to circumvent the allegedly patent-violating feature. The update essentially just disabled the blood oxygen feature, which the US Customs and Border Protection agency decided in January 2024 was sufficient.
In November 2025, Masimo won a $634 million verdict in a federal jury trial. That ruling has not been affected by the new filings, and Masimo called it “a significant win in our ongoing efforts to protect our innovations and intellectual property.”
For its part, Apple told AppleInsider that the November 2025 decision was “contrary to the facts.” It claimed that “Masimo is a medical device company that does not sell any products to consumers.”
“We plan to appeal,” concluded Apple.
So regardless of the latest decision regarding the appeal, the legal battle between the two companies is set to continue. However, they have now been in dispute long enough that patents in question may expire within less than three years, allowing Apple to resume using its feature.
