Previously, Apple had to suspend the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra's sale owing to a patent dispute with Masimo.
Apart from that, Apple was undergoing an antitrust lawsuit with AliveCor.
Now, a US District Court judge made the ruling in Apple’s favour.
For some time now Apple has been facing legal trouble with some of its Apple Watch variants. The California-based tech giant found itself in the middle of copyright infringement lawsuits. You might remember we had shared how Apple had to suspend the sale of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 owing to a patent dispute with tech company Masimo. Turns out that wasn’t the only lawsuit against the Apple Watches. Apple found itself in another antitrust lawsuit with tech company AliveCor. However, it has found some relief there.
Apple was undergoing an antitrust lawsuit with AliveCor where the latter had accused the former of withholding access to certain Apple Watch heart rate data. Now AliveCor said that this move by Apple was anticompetitive. However, a US District Court judge made the ruling in Apple’s favour, stating that they would not have to face the lawsuit in a trial.
Also read: Why the US is halting sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2?
As a part of WatchOS 5, Apple made certain upgrades to Apple Watch’s heart rate algorithm back in 2018. The algorithm was upgraded from “Heart Rate Path Optimizer” (HRPO) to the “Heart Rate Neural Network” algorithm (HRNN). AliveCor’s concern was that this stopped users from using its SmartRhythm feature, which was available in its watchOS app.
An Apple spokesperson said this in a statement to 9to5Mac: “At Apple, our teams are constantly innovating to create products and services that empower users with health, wellness, and life-saving features. AliveCor’s lawsuit challenged Apple’s ability to improve important capabilities of the Apple Watch that consumers and developers rely on, and today’s outcome confirms that is not anti-competitive. We thank the Court for its careful consideration of this case, and will continue to protect the innovations we advance on behalf of our customers against meritless claims.”
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Mustafa Khan
Mustafa is a young tech journalist who tells it like it is, cutting through buzzwords to deliver straightforward smartphone reviews. He’s the office go-to for insider tips and quick demos, and his video content doesn’t waste anyone’s time. When he’s off the clock, he geeks out over cars, photography, and hunting down the best spot for Indian food. View Full Profile
