Masimo CEO Explains Why He Spent $100M In Apple Watch Patent Dispute
Masimo claims that Apple infringed on its intellectual property with its blood oxygen sensor in Apple’s latest smartwatches, and the International Trade Commission (ITC) agreed. The ITC said the case against Apple was strong enough to issue an injunction that prevented Apple from importing or selling the company’s Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2. However, Apple was quick to take its case to an appeals court, where the Cupertino-based company was able to convince it to place a pause on the ban imposed by the ITC.
While Apple may have found a way around the latest injunction (for now), Kiani is determined to not let Apple have the last word. In a recent interview, the CEO admitted that those around him thought he was in over his head in battling a Goliath like Apple. He remarked, “People were telling me I’m crazy and I can’t go against Apple. They have unlimited resources.”
But Masimo and Kiani are no stranger to taking on other companies in similar circumstances, and winning. In 2006, the company was able to win a decision against Nellcor, and in 2016 he won a decision against Royal Philips in another patent-infringement battle. Those two cases, however, were not against a behemoth of the industry like Apple.
In the interview, Kiani explained that Apple has yet to engage in “serious discussions about a settlement” with his company. The CEO has stated in the past that he is open to such discussions, but as he said in the most recent interview, “it takes two to tango.”
On the Apple side of things, the company remarked about the latest ruling in the case, remarking, “Apple’s teams have worked tirelessly over many years to develop technology that empowers users with industry-leading health, wellness and safety features and we are pleased the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has stayed the exclusion order while it considers our request to stay the order pending our full appeal.”
Masimo CEO Kiani is not willing to give up, however, remarking, “I feel like I have to do this. If I can change the most powerful company in the world from continuing to act badly, that’ll have more impact on the world than anything else I’m doing.”
