Apple Inc. will have to face a patent infringement lawsuit over the heart rate sensor technology in the Apple Watch, AppleInsiderreportedMonday, citing a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
What Happened: The original lawsuit - filed by Omni MedSci Inc. in 2018 - had alleged that Apple Watch’s heart rate measurement technology infringed on multiple patents owned by the company, as per the report.
Apple’s move to get the lawsuit dismissed was denied by a U.S. District Court. The case was brought to the Federal Circuit after theTim Cook-led company appealed the decision, the report noted.
The patents were reportedly owned by University of Michigan professor Mohammed Islam, who later assigned the patent rights to Omni MedSci.
However, Apple had argued that the patents actually belonged to the University of Michigan, citing Islam’s employment agreement with the university, as per the report. The federal circuit disagreed with the tech giant’s argument.
Why It Matters: Apple is facing other lawsuits too related to the Apple Watch.It wasreportedin May that privately-held medical device makerAliveCor Inc.filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the Cupertino-based company, accusing it of monopolizing the market for heart-rate technology for the Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch is an important product for Apple and is part of the company’s wearables, home, and accessories segment that generated sales of $8.78 billion in the recent third quarter, up 36% year-over-year.
Price Action: Apple shares closed 0.2% lower in Monday’s trading session at $145.52.
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