Breaking: US appeals court paused Apple Watch ban

Apple has secured a major win over the past week’s turmoil as the US appeals court on Wednesday paused an order to ban Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 in the US.

The latest decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit came after Apple showed disagreement with a decision by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in a matter of infringing Masimo’s patent rights.

Masimo, a medical technology company blamed Apple for hiring its employees and using its patented technology in the latest smartwatches.

Masimo later filed a complaint against Apple at ITC, which later ruled in its favor and blocked Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 imports. ITC also rejected Apple’s request to pause the ban until the Court of Appeal’s verdict.

A few days ago, Apple pulled sales and promotions for these two models from its online and offline retail stores.

Yesterday, the US President’s office also declined to veto ITC’s ruling and upheld the Watch ban with full effect starting December 26.

However, the tech giant pledged efforts to bring back these watches to customers. Apple is seeking to make some design changes and software changes to sideway the controversial part and resume shipments.

This pause is a temporary yet major relief for Apple to explore its options around ITC’s Watch ban and make a plan to resolve issues.

(source – Reuters)