Apple to disable disputed feature on watches

Apple said it would disable a feature that monitors blood oxygen on its two most popular watches in the U.S. beginning Thursday to comply with a court-ordered revival of a sales ban stemming from a patent dispute.

The decision to turn off the blood-oxygen sensor for consumers who buy either the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 in the U.S. came after a federal appeals court refused Wednesday to extend an order that allowed the watches to remain in stores during a battle over the rights to some of the technology.

A temporary stay issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals three weeks ago had allowed the two watch models to return to stores in the U.S. after Apple pulled them from shelves and websites just before Christmas as part of a long-running battle with medical technology company Masimo.

In late October, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled a blood-oxygen sensor in the Apple Watch models infringed on Masimo’s patents, a finding that Apple is trying to overturn in appeals court. But that process could take at least a year to unfold, forcing the Cupertino, California, company to find another way to keep its premium watches available in the U.S.

In a Monday court filing, Masimo disclosed Apple had won approval from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on revisions that would remove the sensor from the watches.

Signaling Apple’s confidence of winning the appeal of the ITC ruling, the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models sold in the U.S. as of Thursday will still come with a Blood Oxygen icon, but when it’s pressed, users will be greeted by a notice informing them the technology isn’t available.

Those who have already purchased the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models in the U.S. will still be able to use the blood-oxygen sensor as they have been. The sensor will continue to work on watches purchased outside the United States.

If Apple had opted to stop selling the models in the U.S., it threatened to put a small dent in its annual sales of $383 billion.