Here’s Why Apple Is Banning The Sale Of Watch Series 9 And Watch Ultra 2 In The US

apple watch banned

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 may have proven themselves indispensable as essential health and fitness monitoring gadgets, but amid the festive season of 2023, they have become more of a headache for Tim Cook and his team of geniuses.

Apple’s recently announced smartwatches, which include the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2, have been found to infringe upon patents for their Blood Oxygen saturation monitoring hardware, and unless US President Joe Biden steps in to veto the ruling, Apple may be banned to sell these to the American citizens for the foreseeable future. Hence, if you were planning to get one of those shiny new Apple Watches this Christmas, you should make your move right away.

Before you panic, let us clarify that the decision affects only the US market. The new Apple Watch sales will continue to be available via Apple retail and its numerous resellers in the rest of the world. Moreover, our readers in the US will be happy to know that the humble Apple Watch SE will be unaffected by the Apple Watch US ban ruling.

Now, let’s dig into the case and figure out why Apple’s newest smartwatches are being taken off the shelves just ahead of Christmas.

Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2 sales banned

To get a clear picture of the controversy, we need to go back to 2020 when Apple announced the Watch Series 6 featuring the new Blood Oxygen saturation monitoring feature. Way before the product’s launch, Masimo, a medical technology company in the US, accused Apple of infringing upon its patents for the blood oxygen saturation monitoring features, and as a result, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in the Central District of California.

Masimo has been known to make some of the best pulse oximeter devices in the US market.

Image Credits: Courtesy Apple

To speed things up, Masimo also filed a case with the International Trade Commission (ITC) in June 2021.

Once the case was studied, the ITC found that Apple was infringing upon two Masimo patents across five different instances. Earlier in October 2023, the ITC put the case under a 60-day Presidential Review Period, and its deadline ends on 25 December 2023. So far, the Biden administration hasn’t decided on the case.

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Apple observes that the decision to ban the sales of the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 will impact the economy, considering that most of its sales happen during the festive season. It also expects the Biden administration to veto the ITC’s ruling considering the importance of the Apple Watch in critical health monitoring.

However, as a preemptive measure, Apple is halting sales of the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 from its US online stores by 21 December and its retail stores by 24 December. Although other retailers in the US, like Best Buy and Amazon, will be able to sell these 2023 smartwatches, a ruling in favour of Masimo could likely halt Apple’s supply of the products to third-party retailers.

Will the Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen also get banned?

The ITC ruling is only applicable to those Apple Watch models that feature blood oxygen saturation monitoring. Given that the entry-level Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen doesn’t feature this sensor, it will be exempt from the sales ban, thereby allowing Apple and other retailers to sell it without worry.

How does this affect existing users of Apple Watch Series 6 and newer models?

Image Credits: Courtesy Apple

The ITC ruling doesn’t affect the customers who have already been using the devices equipped with the blood oxygen monitoring feature. If you are using an Apple Watch Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, Series 9, Watch Ultra and Watch Ultra 2nd Gen, the blood oxygen saturation monitoring will continue to function normally.

The sales ban also doesn’t affect the after-sales service of these products by Apple.

Will Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 be banned forever?

If the Joe Biden administration decides to veto the ITC ruling, Apple will continue selling these smartwatches the way it does today. However, if things don’t go in Apple’s favour, the Cupertino-based tech giant will either need to strike a licensing deal with Masimo for the foreseeable future or devise a workaround by rolling out a firmware update that avoids the infringement.

(Hero and Featured Image Credits: Courtesy Apple)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

– Why are Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 sales banned in the US?

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 are banned from sale owing to an ITC ruling that finds Apple infringing upon two of Masimo’s patents for the blood oxygen saturation monitoring feature. Masimo is a health technology company based in the US.