Better "watch" out
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From the WSJ
Aaron Tilley
Soon after taking over the Apple beat at The Wall Street Journal a year ago, I came across something that I’d never thought I’d see: a string of smaller companies eager to discuss their contentious relationships with Apple.
It was remarkable at the time. I’d covered Apple off and on over a decade and most entrepreneurs and CEOs steered far from anything that could get them on the bad side of the world’s biggest tech company.
After talking to more than two dozen people, I wrote an article that revealed a pattern. Apple would begin partnership conversations with smaller companies for a period of time before abruptly cutting off contact. Then Apple would eventually unveil a remarkably similar piece of technology. To fight off any intellectual-property claims, Apple would pursue an aggressive legal strategy through the U.S. patent system, the smaller companies said.
Apple said it doesn’t steal technology and its use of the patent system is fair and consistent with other companies of its size.
Some of the companies struggled to make their cases against Apple in court. Irvine, Calif.-based Masimo stood apart from that pack. When the medical technology provider began taking Apple to court over claims of patent violations, Apple tried to get all of Masimo’s relevant patents revoked. It didn’t work.
Now, Masimo has done what once might seem hard to imagine. After the U.S. International Trade Commission sided with Masimo in its complaint, Apple announced on Dec. 19 that it would halt U.S. sales of the two latest versions of the Apple Watch. As of this past Thursday, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 showed as “currently unavailable” in the company’s online store.
Apple now needs the Biden administration to overturn the commission’s order by a Christmas deadline, or it will have to find its own solution to resume watch sales.
Masimo CEO Joe Kiani seemed determined to win at almost any cost—his legal bills are now nearly $100 million. But if he ultimately prevails and gets Apple to buy his technology, $100 million could seem like peanuts.
