Does President Biden have a Christmas gift for Apple to announce tomorrow?
Following the removal of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models from Apple's online U.S. store on Thursday, Apple stopped offering the devices through its physical Apple Stores in the U.S. on Sunday. The only place you can find a Series 9 Apple Watch or an Apple Watch Ultra 2 model in the U.S. is at stores such as Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon until they are sold out of the timepieces.
Tomorrow, Christmas Day, Apple employees will have more than just family gatherings and the holiday on their minds. December 25th ends the 60-day presidential review period following the ITC's announcement of an import ban on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The ban was announced following a ruling by an ITC judge stating that Apple had infringed on patents held by Masimo for the pulse oximeter used on the impacted Apple timepieces.
The second generation Apple Watch SE isn't affected by the import ban because the device does not have a pulse oximeter. If the president doesn't come to Apple's rescue by vetoing the ITC exclusion order, Apple can still try to bring back the watches by disabling the pulse oximeter on the affected models, or by reaching a settlement with Masimo and agreeing to license the patent. Masimo CEO Joe Kiani said that before he agrees to sit down with Apple, he wants the company to apologize.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 was removed from Apple Stores in the U.S. today
Apple engineers are also reportedly hard at work to replace the algorithm and other software related to the pulse oximeter with new code that doesn't infringe on Masimo's patents. But since the patents are mostly hardware-related, it doesn't seem that making changes to the software would allow Apple to get out from under the ITC exclusion order.
A pulse oximeter measures the saturation of oxygen carried in a person's red blood cells and a normal reading would be in the range of 95%-100%. Readings under the low end of that range suggest a problem called hypoxemia which could be a sign of heart or lung issues.
If the White House makes an announcement on Christmas Day about President Biden's decision whether to veto the exclusion order, we will pass that information along to you. You might recall that back in 2013, Apple was the subject of an ITC product ban after it was found to have infringed on some Samsung patents. Several Apple devices sold by AT&T such as the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad 3G, iPad 2 3G, and iPad 3 were facing an import ban until then President Barack Obama vetoed it.
As for President Biden, there is no indication from the White House that he is leaning in one particular way.
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