A federal court has ruled in Apple’s favor in the years-long fight against AliveCor, preventing a potential total import ban on the Apple Watch.
The ruling came in on Friday. In that ruling, a federal court of appeals invalidated AliveCor’s claims that Apple had infringed on its patented information.
Apple is understandably pleased. It provided AppleInsider with a statement.
“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.”
The company goes on to point out how millions have benefited from the health features on Apple Watch, and is glad that it can continue to provide important heart monitoring features to its customers.
In 2020, AliveCor claimed that Apple infringed on its intellectual property by using patented information when creating the AFib detection feature in Apple Watch Series 4 and onward. Just a few months later, AliveCor sought out an Apple Watch ban.
In 2022, the US Patent Office’s Trial and Appeals Board sided with Apple, claiming the company did not infringe on AliveCor’s patents. However, shortly after, an ITC judge sided with AliveCor, recommending that the ITC conduct a full review of the case.
When the ITC found Apple guilty of patent infringement in December 2022, it imposed a Limited Exclusion Order on Apple. The order would set a $2.00 bond per infringing Apple Watch imported or sold during the Presidential review period.
The ITC suspended the enforcement, pending a review by the USTP the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board — the same board that found the patent infringement claims invalid the first time.
That same month, Apple had retaliated, launching its own countersuit against the mobile ECG firm. The suit claimed that AliveCor had “brazenly infringed” on Apple’s technology, which it had “developed years before AliveCor even came into existence.”
By 2024, Apple had beat the antitrust lawsuit levied against it when US District Judge Jeffery White released a summary judgment ruling in favor of Apple. It upheld the notion that Apple wasn’t violating any AliveCor patents in Apple Watch models with redesigned ECGs.
According to Reuters, AliveCor was “deeply disappointed” in the ruling. It is reportedly examining “all available legal options, including potential appeals.”
And, the company has issued a statement to AppleInsider and others. We have included it in its entirety.
“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.”
Timetable on appeals, given that Friday’s ruling was from an appeals court, aren’t exactly clear.
<