Apple Pauses Latest Apple Watch Sales In The United States: Apple has announced a temporary sales pause in the United States for its latest Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches. It’s going to take effect by December 21st online and December 24th at retail stores. The decision came from a patent conflict with medical device company Masimo concerning blood oxygen measurement technology within the watches.
Apple’s watches determined a recent ruling infringed on patents owned by Masimo related to non-invasive blood oxygen sensors. This finding could prompt an import ban on the new Apple Watch models pending review by President Biden before December 25th.
In preparation, Apple is both appealing the initial ruling and exploring potential refinement to oxygen level algorithms in case an import prohibition goes into effect again. Impressively, more affordable legacy models like the Series 8 and Apple Watch SE lacking the contested blood oxygen tracking remain unaffected by the sales pause. The alternative variations available may help modify financial impacts during the peak holiday shopping season.
The legal rights dispute highlights the growing pains technology companies face pushing innovation boundaries in growing smart device categories. As pioneers enhance what is possible, they also attract legal scrutiny of intellectual property protections. How such conflicts shape the smartwatch landscape carries meaningful implications for manufacturers and consumers going forward.
For now, buyers seeking Apple’s newest wearable watches this holiday season must have to wait a bit longer. But with legal processes pending along with Apple’s trademark originality, fans can expect cutting-edge Watch capabilities in 2023 and many more years to come.
