Apple will be stopping sales of the Apple Watch in the United States, in order to comply with an ITC ruling in its patent infringement dispute with Masimo.
With the Apple Watch import ban in the United States set to start from Christmas Day, Apple is bracing itself for the ban being upheld by the Biden administration.
Confirmed to AppleInsider, it is putting a hold on sales of its newest models from December 21 from the online Apple Store. For Apple Stores, sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will stop after December 24.
In a statement, Apple acknowledges that the Presidential Review Period is in progress, but that it won’t end until December 25, and so it is preemptively taking steps to comply with a ban.
The full statement from Apple on the matter follows:
A Presidential Review Period is in progress regarding an order from the U.S. International Trade Commission on a technical intellectual property dispute pertaining to Apple Watch devices containing the Blood Oxygen feature. While the review period will not end until December 25, Apple is preemptively taking steps to comply should the ruling stand.
This includes pausing sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Apple.com starting December 21, and from Apple retail locations after December 24.
Apple’s teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features. Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers.
Should the order stand, Apple will continue to take all measures to return the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.
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