United States International Trade Commission Issues Exclusion Order for Infringing Apple Watches, Finding that Apple Violated U.S. Trade Laws

Rhea-AI Summary

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has recommended a limited exclusion order for Apple Watches that infringe on Masimo's patented light-based pulse oximetry technology. The exclusion is set to go into effect after a 60-day Presidential review period.

Positive

• The USITC ruling holds Apple accountable for patent infringement, validating Masimo's efforts to protect its technology.
• Comments from various institutions and experts support the exclusion order, emphasizing the importance of protecting innovation and fair competition.

Negative

• None.

Decision Holds World’s Largest Company Accountable for Its Patent Infringement

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) today announced that the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has recommended a limited exclusion order for infringing Apple Watches with light-based pulse oximetry functionality. The USITC found that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) violated U.S. laws by incorporating Masimo’s patented light-based pulse oximetry technology in its products. The exclusion is scheduled to go into effect after a 60-day Presidential review period.

“Today’s ruling by the USITC sends a powerful message that even the world’s largest company is not above the law,” said Joe Kiani, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Masimo. “This important determination is a strong validation of our efforts to hold Apple accountable for unlawfully misappropriating our patented technology,” added Mr. Kiani.

Comments from two dozen academic institutions, leading antitrust and intellectual property scholars, physicians, investors, nonprofits, and members of Congress were filed in support of the public’s interest in the exclusion order. These comments conveyed a similar message: to protect innovation, such as Masimo’s technology, and to protect public health, it is necessary to preserve incentives to innovate and protect intellectual property and fair competition.

In its comment submitted to the ITC, the Consumer Federation of America stated, “There is no greater offense to both the antitrust and intellectual property law than when a dominant firm infringes the patent of a smaller rival, who is an actual or potential competitor. In this case, as in the other cases involving Apple’s egregious abuse of market power, the harms far outweigh the benefit. In fact, because competition will swiftly replace any services or products that Apple is no longer able to deliver because of the remedy, there will be little harm and a great deal of benefit for consumers and the economy.”

@Masimo | #Masimo

About Masimo

Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) is a global medical technology company that develops and produces a wide array of industry-leading monitoring technologies, including innovative measurements, sensors, patient monitors, and automation and connectivity solutions. In addition, Masimo Consumer Audio is home to eight legendary audio brands, including Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Marantz, and Polk Audio. Our mission is to improve life, improve patient outcomes, and reduce the cost of care. Masimo SET^® Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion™ pulse oximetry, introduced in 1995, has been shown in over 100 independent and objective studies to outperform other pulse oximetry technologies.¹ Masimo SET^® has also been shown to help clinicians reduce severe retinopathy of prematurity in neonates,² improve CCHD screening in newborns³ and, when used for continuous monitoring with Masimo Patient SafetyNet™ in post-surgical wards, reduce rapid response team activations, ICU transfers, and costs.^4-7 Masimo SET^® is estimated to be used on more than 200 million patients in leading hospitals and other healthcare settings around the world,⁸ and is the primary pulse oximetry at 9 of the top 10 hospitals as ranked in the 2022-23 U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll.⁹ In 2005, Masimo introduced rainbow^® Pulse CO-Oximetry technology, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously could only be measured invasively, including total hemoglobin (SpHb^®), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO^®), methemoglobin (SpMet^®), Pleth Variability Index (PVi^®), RPVi™ (rainbow^® PVi), and Oxygen Reserve Index (ORi™). In 2013, Masimo introduced the Root^® Patient Monitoring and Connectivity Platform, built from the ground up to be as flexible and expandable as possible to facilitate the addition of other Masimo and third-party monitoring technologies; key Masimo additions include Next Generation SedLine^® Brain Function Monitoring, O3^® Regional Oximetry, and ISA™ Capnography with NomoLine^® sampling lines. Masimo’s family of continuous and spot-check monitoring Pulse CO-Oximeters^® includes devices designed for use in a variety of clinical and non-clinical scenarios, including tetherless, wearable technology, such as Radius-7^®, Radius PPG^®, and Radius VSM™, portable devices like Rad-67^®, fingertip pulse oximeters like MightySat^® Rx, and devices available for use both in the hospital and at home, such as Rad-97^®. Masimo hospital and home automation and connectivity solutions are centered around the Masimo Hospital Automation™ platform, and include Iris^® Gateway, iSirona™, Patient SafetyNet, Replica^®, Halo ION^®, UniView^®, UniView :60™, and Masimo SafetyNet^®. Its growing portfolio of health and wellness solutions includes Radius Tº^®, Masimo W1™, and Masimo Stork™. Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at www.masimo.com. Published clinical studies on Masimo products can be found at www.masimo.com/evidence/featured-studies/feature/.

RPVi has not received FDA 510(k) clearance and is not available for sale in the United States. The use of the trademark Patient SafetyNet is under license from University HealthSystem Consortium.

References

1. Published clinical studies on pulse oximetry and the benefits of Masimo SET^® can be found on our website at http://www.masimo.com. Comparative studies include independent and objective studies which are comprised of abstracts presented at scientific meetings and peer-reviewed journal articles.
2. Castillo A et al. Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Preterm Infants through Changes in Clinical Practice and SpO₂ Technology. Acta Paediatr. 2011 Feb;100(2):188-92.
3. de-Wahl Granelli A et al. Impact of pulse oximetry screening on the detection of duct dependent congenital heart disease: a Swedish prospective screening study in 39,821 newborns. BMJ. 2009;Jan 8;338.
4. Taenzer A et al. Impact of pulse oximetry surveillance on rescue events and intensive care unit transfers: a before-and-after concurrence study. Anesthesiology. 2010:112(2):282-287.
5. Taenzer A et al. Postoperative Monitoring – The Dartmouth Experience. Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter. Spring-Summer 2012.
6. McGrath S et al. Surveillance Monitoring Management for General Care Units: Strategy, Design, and Implementation. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2016 Jul;42(7):293-302.
7. McGrath S et al. Inpatient Respiratory Arrest Associated With Sedative and Analgesic Medications: Impact of Continuous Monitoring on Patient Mortality and Severe Morbidity. J Patient Saf. 2020 14 Mar. DOI: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000696.
8. Estimate: Masimo data on file.
9. http://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/best-hospitals-honor-roll-and-overview.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors, including, but not limited to: risks related to further proceedings, including the Presidential review period and any appeals, as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these statements or the "Risk Factors" contained in our most recent reports filed with the SEC, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231026948697/en/

Masimo

Kristen Budreau

949-433-5847

kbudreau@masimo.com

Source: Masimo

What is the USITC ruling about?

The USITC has recommended a limited exclusion order for Apple Watches that infringe on Masimo's patented technology.

What is the impact of the ruling on Masimo?

The ruling validates Masimo's efforts to hold Apple accountable for unlawfully using its patented technology.

What is the timeline for the exclusion order to go into effect?

The exclusion order is set to go into effect after a 60-day Presidential review period.

What do the comments from various institutions and experts suggest?

The comments support the exclusion order and emphasize the importance of protecting innovation and fair competition.