The International Trade Commission (ITC) has found Apple infringing AliveCor patents on its smartwatch, putting Apple Watch sales in the US at risk. However, suchdecisiondiffers from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) statement that US President Joe Biden should intervene to resolve the conflict.
As it became known, representatives of AliveCor filed a lawsuit against Apple last year, emphasizing that Apple’s own portable EKG system infringes on AliveCor’s technology, which allows you to monitor heart rhythm. To this day, AliveCor is trying to ban imports of Apple watches into the US, which AliveCor representatives say infringe on its patented EKG technology.
The ITC’s ruling in June meant Apple would face penalties for infringing AliveCor’s patents, but the PTAB this month said AliveCor’s technologies were “unpatentable.” That is, they are too obvious and universal to be patented. However, the ITC’s decision still leaves Apple at fault.
“The patents on which AliveCor’s case is based have been invalidated, and for that reason we must ultimately prevail on this matter,” Apple representatives emphasized.
Because of the two conflicting statements, no conclusion regarding Apple and AliveCor can take effect immediately. Therefore, from now on, the decision on the patent dispute will be made by the US president, who has 60 days to do so.
We will remind that the new device from Apple is a smart ring, it should monitor heart rate, oxygen level in the blood and measure blood pressure. The question of what ECG technologies developers will use to avoid another lawsuit is still open. There is no word yet on the likely launch date of the ring, because the new project was registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) only at the beginning of December.
Apple is also preparing allow alternative app stores on their devices and downloading third-party apps. This decision is part of a large-scale update aimed at compliance with EU requirements that will come into force in 2024.
According to Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman, Apple finishes development mixed reality headsets.