A patent lawsuit aims to ban the Apple Watch

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AliveCor has sued Apple twice for patent infringement on ECG technology and antitrust for copying original heart measurement ideas.

A function of Apple Watch may infringe a tech patent health, in particular This is the ECG function which is proprietary to AliveCor. A judge ruled on th is possibility and if confirmed, those of Cupertino could not sell the Apple Watch in the United States.

Between patents and patents, one of the most important of the Apple Watch would put it in danger

The company is known for an accessory called KardiaBand, which takes ECG readings ahead of the release of the Apple Watch Series 4. The problem is that previously ECG was not an Apple-first patented feature..

AliveCor created the accessory and via Bluetooth it was possible to connect with an app in watchOS to perform these readings. Irregular heartbeats and atrial fibrillation metrics are part of this accessory and which Apple now manages as if it were its own.

KardiaBand in an Apple Watch

After the launch of the Apple Watch Series 4, KardiaBand was forgotten

AliveCor sued Apple twice, one for patent infringement before the International Trade Commission and one for antitrust to copy and sabotage ideas and applications. Last month, a judge ruled that the Cupertinos should face the antitrust lawsuit. Regarding the patent, the decision was more forceful so much so that the Apple Watch could stop being sold.

How serious are the lawsuits? The antitrust lawsuit would move forward if AliveCor proves all of the above claims. The only downside they would have is that it’s not so clear that Apple has a monopoly on ECG smartwatches. KardiaBand was an add-on accessory rather than a smartwatch.

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Although time keeps ticking away, we know that despite the judge’s ruling in the patent case, AliveCor was unable to prove patent infringement. Everything could be resolved on October 26, 2022 during which a final decision will be made in a hearing. The only Apple Watch that could be saved would be the SE since it doesn’t have an ECG.

The patents infringed are 2, “Methods and Systems for Monitoring and Scoring Arrhythmias” and a registered patent from AliveCor, “Discordance Monitoring”. Priya Abani, CEO of AliveCor, said in a press release that she was confident the ruling was a validation of her intellectual property.

Related Topics: apple watch

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