A federal jury ruled Friday that Masimo smartwatches infringed Apple patents, but Apple isn’t getting a big payday.
Bloomberg Law reports that the company was only seeking the statutory minimum of $250, and that’s all it was awarded. Apple’s attorney John Desmarais reportedly told jurors, “We’re not here for the money.” Instead, he said the company hoped to force Masimo to “stop copying our design.”
The company may have been disappointed on that front. The jury did find that the original design for Masimo’s W1 Freedom and health module, as well as its original charger, infringed on Apple patents, and that the infringement was willful.
However, in a statement, Masimo noted that the findings only applied to “a discontinued module and charger,” not its current products.
“Apple primarily sought an injunction against Masimo’s current products, and the jury’s verdict is a victory for Masimo on that issue,” the medical device company said.
The trial resulted from Apple’s countersuit in its ongoing legal battle with Masimo, which started with the Masimo’s claim that its patents had been infringed by the Apple Watch’s pulse-oximetry feature, which allows Watch owners to measure their blood oxygen levels. Apple disabled the feature in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2, and it’s also missing from the new Series 10. These limitations only apply in the United States, with Apple is appealing an import ban on models with the contested feature.
Desmerais reportedly told the jury that the pulse-oximetry feature “has nothing to do with this case.”
