Apple Watch escapes US import ban over AliveCor dispute

The AliveCor startup’s claims regarding the alleged borrowing of ECG technology in the Apple Watch have been considered in the US by various instances since 2021, and in early February last year, the court already sided with Apple. Now, AliveCor has failed in the appellate instance, as a result of which the ban on importing Apple Watch to the US will not be imposed.

Image Source: Apple

The claims concerned three AliveCor developments in the field of methods for working with electrocardiograms, which the startup tried to protect with patents and appealed to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) for this purpose. The latter ruled several years ago that Apple had violated AliveCor’s patent rights, and therefore the import of Watch watches with an ECG function should be prohibited in the US. The entry into force of the ITC’s decision was then prevented by the verdict of the ITC Patent Appeals Board, which found AliveCor’s patents invalid. The plaintiff exercised the right to appeal, but the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed AliveCor’s claims this week, finding the startup’s developments not subject to patent protection.

AliveCor representatives, as The Verge notes, expressed deep disappointment with the court’s decision, citing the initial ITC verdict, which found the arguments in favor of the validity of the disputed patents convincing. The plaintiff continues to insist that its patents are valid and were violated by Apple. The startup intends to continue to defend its interests using all possible legal means. Apple simply limited itself to thanking the court for its careful consideration of the case and reminded that the company has been working for many years on the functions of its devices in the field of monitoring the state of the body of users, which seriously affect their lives.

In defending its interests, AliveCor has followed the legal approach of startup Masimo, which has successfully secured a ban on the import of Apple Watches with blood oxygen monitoring functionality into the United States. While the ban is in effect, Apple is forced to programmatically disable the functionality in certain models of smartwatches sold in the United States.