ITC files with court to end temporary stay on Apple Watch exclusion order

The ITC imposed an import ban into the United States against Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra2. Apple began following the ban early, removing the offending Apple Watch models from its US online Apple Store on December 21, and then removing the watches from physical US Apple Stores on December 24. President Biden could have vetoed the exclusion order after the 60-day presidential review period ended on December 25, but he did not do so. Cynics might note that Biden has a friendship with Masimo founder and CEO Joe Kiani.

Apple was able to obtain a temporary stay of the exclusion order from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit while appealing the ITC's initial ruling that Apple had infringed the Masimo patent. With this reprieve, the tech giant was able to return the affected watches to online and physical Apple Stores in the United States. Apple is seeking a longer-term stay while its appeal goes to the appropriate courts. At the same time, the company has submitted a software change for the watches to U.S. customs that Apple hopes will provide enough of a workaround to remove it from Masimo's patent. A judgment is expected this Friday, January 12.

By Reutersif customs accept that Apple can sell a modified version of the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra2Masimo would not be able to appeal this decision and would have to start from scratch by filing a completely new case with the ITC.

When the U.S. Court of Appeals granted Apple a temporary stay of the exclusion order, it gave the ITC until today to explain why Apple should not be granted a stay in the longer term to cover it until the end of the appeal procedure. The ITC argued that filing with the Federal Circuit Court and depending on that court's rulings, Apple could be forced to once again withdraw the Apple Watch Series 9 And Apple Watch Ultra2 in US Apple Stores, physical and online.