Aaron Tilley of The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has won a temporary reprieve as U.S. court pauses watch ban.
Apple AAPL won a temporary reprieve for its $18 billion smartwatch business after a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday paused a federal agency’s import ban on most of its watch models.
The ruling will allow sales to resume in the coming weeks while the court weighs Apple’s request to pause the ban pending its appeal of an October decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The commission banned the import into the U.S. of some versions of the Apple Watch over violations of patents of Masimo MASI, an Irvine, Calif.-based medical technology company.
Separately, Apple has sought approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection on redesigned versions of the two watch models subject to the ban. The customs office is responsible for enforcing import bans and is scheduled to decide on Jan. 12 whether Apple’s redesign complies with the trade agency’s finding. The Biden administration declined to overturn the ruling by a Dec. 25 deadline. […]
If companies pursued Apple in courts over intellectual property claims, Apple would respond with an aggressive legal strategy through the U.S. patents system to avoid having to pay royalties, these companies alleged. Apple said it doesn’t steal technology and its use of the patent system is fair and consistent with other companies of its size.
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