Apple pauses sales of latest watches in the U.S. after ITC decision

Apple is temporarily pulling certain Apple Watches from the U.S. market to comply with an import ban issued by the International Trade Commission in October.

The ITC declared two months ago that Apple infringed on the patents of pulse oximeter company Masimo. President Biden has until Dec. 25 to approve or veto the import ban, but Apple has decided to preemptively comply with the order. Apple Watches with blood oxygen measuring capabilities will be removed from Apple’s website on Dec. 21, and from its stores on Dec. 24. The older version of the Apple Watch, which tracks heart rate and physical activity, will still be available.

Engineers at the company are racing to make changes to algorithms on the device that measure a user’s blood oxygen level — a feature that Masimo Corp. has argued infringes its patents. They’re adjusting how the technology determines oxygen saturation and presents the data to customers, according to people familiar with the work.