Back in stock: Court blocks import ban on Apple Watches

Apple started to pull devices from store shelves last week following a sweeping import ban on its watches by the U.S. International Trade Commission as a months-long patent dispute surrounding Apple Watch tech plays out in the court system. But now, a federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the ITC ban, allowing the company to restock its store shelves immediately as the patent issue continues in court.

Apple had filed an emergency request asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to halt the ITC’s order.  The appeals court said it is pausing the ban while it considers Apple’s motion for a longer-term pause.

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“We are thrilled to return the full Apple Watch lineup to customers in time for the new year,” Apple said in a statement. “Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, including the blood oxygen feature, will become available for purchase again in the United States at Apple Stores starting today and from apple.com tomorrow by 12 pm PT.”

Beginning Thursday, Dec. 28, all watches will be available online and in stores, a major victory for the tech giant in one of its most profitable times of the year. Still, Apple is not out of the woods, as the ongoing patent dispute with medical device company Masimo makes its way through the courts.

Masimo sued Apple in 2020 for allegedly stealing its blood-oxygen reading technology and putting it in Apple Watches.

“Ever since 2013, when [Apple] contacted me and said we’re the platinum of of non-invasive monitoring. They want us to go in with them, meet with them, because they want to integrate our technology. We have not heard from them. Instead, they ended up recruiting 25 of my engineers, including our chief medical officer and CTO from a spinoff company. And this is not an accidental infringement. This is a deliberate taking of our intellectual property,” Masimo CEO Joe Kiani told Bloomberg last week.

Masimo has not commented on the latest decision, according to media reports.