The United States The International Trade Commission is expected to issue a decision that may prevent sales of modern Apple Watch models in the United States, after US President (Joe Biden) refused to cancel the committee's recent decision.
The problems began in 2020 when the US company AliveCor filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission, claiming that Apple had infringed on three of its patents related to ECG sensor technology in watches. In December 2021, the committee found that Apple had infringed AliveCor's patents and issued a decision banning the import or sale to the United States of watches with the above sensors, including Models 4 and later.
The President of the United States has the power to overturn an ITC decision up to 60 days after it is published if he believes an ITC decision would be contrary to the public interest or national security. And according to AlivCor announcement, the chairman (Joe Biden) chose not to vote to overturn that decision, which means the company could face injunction at this point unless it wins a federal appeals court appeal.
It should be noted that US presidents rarely vote to overturn ITC decisions, and one of the rare cases when this happened was when US President Barack Obama vetoed the decision to sell iPhones and iPads in 2013, after the commission found that Apple had Owned patents infringed. from Samsung.
AliveCor said it shared ECG technology with Apple when the two companies partnered in 2015. In 2018, Apple launched the Apple Watch Series 4 smartwatch, introducing ECG capabilities for the first time and banning the use of third-party ECG apps and products for the Apple Watch, forcing AliveCor to Stop selling the Apple KardiaBand, same thing it provides functionality.
Analysts ruled out a halt in sales of the Apple Watch in the US market, where there is still a chance of winning an appeal, or through a deal with AliveCor under which Apple pays a fee for using the technology.