US sales of the new Apple smartwatch models have been banned, 9to5Mac reported.
The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has banned Apple from selling "smart watches" due to a lost patent dispute with Masimo. The dispute stems from patents related to technology for detecting blood oxygen saturation levels. It is noted that President Joe Biden could veto the decision before December 25, but that has not yet happened. Thus, from December 25, sales of Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the country will be prohibited.
The company said sales of watches on Apple's website will stop on December 21. The devices will no longer be available in retail stores on December 24th. However, there will be no restrictions on devices already sold before that date.
Bloomberg's sources later reported that Apple intended to circumvent the ban by disabling the watch's blood oxygen level function at the software level. Masimo said the move would not be enough to overturn the ban.
In late October, French authorities allowed Apple to resume sales of the iPhone 12 across the country. In mid-September, sales of the devices were banned due to elevated levels of dangerous radiation. /BGNES
