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Apple Ordered to Pay Masimo $634 Million in Apple Watch Patent Dispute

Apple Ordered to Pay Masimo $634 Million in Apple Watch Patent Dispute

The dispute previously triggered a ban on US sales of Apple Watch models featuring blood oxygen monitoring in December 2023.

Written by Sucharita Ganguly, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 17 November 2025 12:49 IST

Apple Ordered to Pay Masimo $634 Million in Apple Watch Patent Dispute

Apple reportedly noted that the single patent at the centre of the case expired in 2022

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Highlights

Masimo calls the ruling a major win for its intellectual property
Apple added a workaround in 2025 using iPhone processing
Masimo is now challenging Apple’s workaround in a new lawsuit

Apple and medical technology firm Masimo have been locked in a long-running legal battle over the blood oxygen–sensing features found in recent Apple Watch models. The dispute has spanned multiple lawsuits, import bans, and competing public statements as both companies defend their positions on innovation and intellectual property. The latest development in this conflict arrived with a major court ruling in the US, setting the stage for yet another chapter in the companies' ongoing struggle.

Apple Hit With $634 Million Penalty in Masimo Blood Oxygen Patent Trial

A US federal jury has determined that Apple must pay medical technology company Masimo $634 million (roughly Rs. 5,620 crore) for infringing a patent related to blood oxygen-sensing technology used in the Apple Watch, according to a Reuters report. The Cupertino company is expected to appeal the decision.

Masimo said in a statement that it viewed the verdict as a positive outcome, noting that the ruling supports its long-running effort to safeguard its innovations and intellectual property. The company expressed that protecting its technology is essential to its ability to develop products that benefit patients, and that it plans to continue defending its IP rights.

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According to Reuters, an Apple spokesperson said that although Masimo has taken the company to court many times over the past six years, bringing more than two dozen patent claims, most of those claims were found to be invalid. The company also noted that the single patent involved in this ruling expired in 2022 and is based on older patient-monitoring technology.

The dispute previously triggered a ban on US sales of Apple Watch models featuring blood oxygen monitoring in December 2023. Apple briefly continued sales during an interim stay as it appealed the order, but the ban returned in January 2024. To comply, Apple began selling versions of affected Apple Watch models with the blood oxygen feature disabled through software.

For more than eighteen months, Apple Watch units in the US could not offer native blood oxygen readings. Apple ultimately introduced a workaround in August 2025, shifting processing and display of blood oxygen data to a paired iPhone rather than the watch itself. US Customs officials overseeing enforcement of the original ban accepted this approach.

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Masimo opposed the workaround and filed another lawsuit seeking to overturn the US Customs decision. The company hopes to once again block Apple from selling Apple Watch models with any form of blood oxygen functionality in the US, though the court has not yet issued a ruling in this latest case, the report added.

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Further reading: Apple, Masimo, Masimo Blood Oxygen Patent, Apple Watch, Masimo Blood Oxygen Patent Trial

Sucharita Ganguly

Email Sucharita Ganguly

Sucharita is a writer with Gadgets 360 and is mostly found playing with her cat in her free time. She has previously worked at breaking news desks across organizations. Powered by coffee, The Beatles, Bowie, and her newfound love for BTS, she aims to work towards contributing to a better media environment for women and queer folk. More