Apple defeats AliveCor antitrust lawsuit over smartwatch technology

US District Judge Jeffrey White ruled in favor of Apple and against AliveCor in a lawsuit over developing smartwatch technology for detecting irregular heartbeat.

The Silicon Valley startup AliveCor accused the Cupertino giant of illegally monopolizing the U.S. market for heart rate monitoring apps for its Apple Watch and violating the federal Sherman antitrust law and a California unfair competition law (via Reuters).

Apple convinced the federal judge to dismiss the AliveCor lawsuit, but the decision explaining White's reasoning is being kept under seal at the moment over confidentiality concerns.

“AliveCor is deeply disappointed and strongly disagrees with the court's decision to dismiss our anti-competition case and we plan to appeal," the Silicon Valley startup said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Apple said that the lawsuit challenged its ability to make improvements to the Apple Watch that consumers and developers rely on: “Today's outcome confirms that it is not anti-competitive”, the tech giant said.

In an amended complaint, AliveCor said Apple had led it to believe it would collaborate on heart-monitoring technology for the Apple Watch, only to then copy its ideas and embark on a "concentrated campaign to corner the market for heart rate analysis."

The complaint also accused Apple of "updating" the heart rate algorithm for its watches, to prevent third parties from identifying irregular heartbeats and offering competing apps.
AliveCor had developed KardiaBand, a wristband for the Apple Watch capable of recording an electrocardiogram, or ECG.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, has denied wrongdoing.

AliveCor is still battling Apple on separate patent infringement claims.