A pantheon problem could topple the ban on Apple Watch imports in the United States.
We have been talking about a patent issue Apple has with healthcare tech company AliveCor. The news appeared last summer and at the end of the year we discovered that the case had not ended, and now we have news again. Even President Biden himself has confirmed it.
A few weeks ago the United States International Trade Commission sided in favor of AliveCor, agreeing that Apple had infringed its patented technology. And now It was President Biden who confirmed the ruling, after the required 60-day review. In other words, We are facing the possible import ban on the Apple Watch in the U.S.
We applaud President Biden for upholding the ITC ruling and holding Apple accountable for infringing the patents that underpin our industry-leading ECG technology. This decision goes beyond AliveCor and sends a clear message to innovators that the United States will protect patents to build and scale new technologies that benefit consumers.
Will the sale of Apple Watch really be banned?
The truth is that yes. The US International Trade Commission said Apple Watch imports should be blocked due to infringement of these patents. AliveCor has been fighting Apple for these patents since 2015, which were applied in 2018 with the arrival of the Apple Watch Series 4 and its electrocardiogram technology.
However, the decision of the International Trade Commission has been suspended since the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office declared that AliveCor’s three patents were invalid. This happened last December.
AliveCor ha appealed this decision, and the ITC’s Apple Watch import ban is awaiting resolution of this appeal. If it is favorable to AliveCor, the importation of Apple Watch into the United States could automatically be prohibited.
In this case, it is likely that Apple tried to reach an agreement with AliveCor to avoid this block, something that has already happened on previous occasions. But of course the threat to the Apple Watch is real and Apple should be ready for anything.