President Joe Biden has declined to issue a last-minute, emergency action to keep the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 on store shelves in the United States.
Driving the news: The decision was made after a ruling by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) that found that these Apple Watch models violated a pulse oximeter patent held by medical device maker, Masimo.
- As a result, Apple has taken the offending Watch models off its online store, and Apple Store locations don’t have the latest top-of-the-line watches in stock.
- The ban affects the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, as well as all models of the Apple Watch Ultra. The cheaper Apple Watch SE, which was not part of the ruling, remains on sale.
- Although other retailers like Amazon and Best Buy continue to sell their remaining stock of Apple Watches, the ITC ruling prevents Apple from importing more smartwatches to the United States.
What we’re watching: Apple disagrees with the ruling and is exploring legal and technical options to make the Apple Watch available to customers again.
- The company may need to make software tweaks to address the patent violation, but there is no guarantee that the ITC will accept Apple’s potential solution.
