Apple prevails in AliveCor patent case over Apple Watch

Apple and health technology company AliveCor have been embroiled in multiple legal battles for years, including a back-and-forth case with the International Trade Commission.

In a decision today, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a previous decision from the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that found the three AliveCor patents at the center of its ITC case to be unpatentable.

In 2021, AliveCor went to the ITC to accuse Apple of infringing on three of its patents with the Apple Watch’s heart rate monitoring features. In June 2022, the ITC reached an initial finding, agreeing with AliveCor that Apple had infringed its patented technology. Apple then went to the PTAB to request that AliveCor’s three patents be declared invalid.

In December 2022, the PTAB ruled that AliveCor’s three patents were unpatentable, which is a broad way of saying that a patent claim is either too obvious or too generic. AliveCor then began the process of appealing that decision.

Three weeks later, the ITC ruled that the Apple Watch infringed on AliveCor’s patents, but only if the patents were valid. The exclusion order was put on pause as AliveCor’s appeal of the PTAB’s ruling was considered.

That brings us to where we are today, with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upholding the PTAB’s invalidation of AliveCor’s three patents. As such, it dismissed the ITC case.

In a statement to 9to5Mac, an Apple spokesperson said:

We thank the Federal Circuit for its careful consideration in this case. Apple’s teams have worked tirelessly over many years to develop industry-leading health, wellness and safety features that meaningfully impact users’ lives, and we intend to stay on this path.

You can find both relevant documents from today embedded below.

AliveCor statement

We are deeply disappointed by the Court’s decisions this morning and that the Court did not review the available secondary considerations, which the ITC found to be persuasive in their finding of validity. Today’s ruling does not affect our business or ability to continue innovating for our growing base of millions of customers.

These cases go beyond AliveCor; these cases represent every small company and every future innovation that is at risk of being suppressed by a Goliath. Our fight against Apple is necessary to preserve innovation, fair competition, and the ability to ensure that inventors – both today and of the future – have the IP protection needed to build and scale new technologies.

We will continue to explore all available legal options, including potential appeals, to defend our position that our patents are valid and that Apple infringed our intellectual property rights. As we move forward, our focus remains on transforming the industry with clinically validated, AI-powered solutions that help democratize access to cardiac care.

AliveCor v. Apple

AliveCor v. International Trade Commission