Biden won’t save Apple Watch from potential ban

Apple will continue to fight California-based AliveCor over the startup’s electrocardiogram (ECG) technology. On Tuesday, AliveCor announced that US President Joe Biden chose not to veto a US International Trade Commission (ITC) decision in December that could result in a ban on imports of the Apple Watch Series 4 and later.

It’s unlikely that Apple Watches will be completely banned. But, as The Verge points out, AliveCor may opt out of a licensing agreement with Apple to use its patents in the Apple Watch.

According to AliveCor, which employs about 150 of Apple’s 80,000 employees, the company shared ECG sensor technology with Apple in 2015, building a business relationship, The Hill reported earlier this month. In 2018, Apple released the Apple Watch Series 4, which not only introduced an ECG sensor for smartwatches, but also blocked third-party heart monitoring apps. AliveCor said this forced it to stop selling the KardiaBand in 2019, an ECG band the company announced for the Apple Watch in 2016.

“We come up with new technologies, and instead of the ecosystem allowing us to thrive and continue to develop the innovations that we already have, Apple is cutting us off, stealing our technology, using the power of their platform to scale it, and now basically saying that he scales so it cannot be cut off,” AliveCor CEO Priya Abani said, according to a Feb. 17 report from The Hill.

In December, the ITC ruled that Apple had infringed (PDF) AliveCor’s patent; however, there is currently no import ban. This is because AliveCor is currently appealing (PDF) a US Patent and Trademark Office decision in December that invalidated the company’s three pending patents, according to Reuters. As such, an Apple spokesperson told The Verge this week that the ITC decision has yet to affect the Apple Watch.

Biden’s decision not to veto the ITC decision against Apple, which was reportedly delegated to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, is different than the last time Apple faced such a ban from a government agency. In 2013, the ITC called for a ban on the iPhone and iPad due to Apple violating Samsung patents, but then US President Barack Obama vetoed the ban due to pressure from “telephone operators and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers”. Since 1987, no president has vetoed a ban on ITC-branded products, so Biden is unlikely to veto the December decision, despite Apple’s lobbying efforts as reported by The Hill.

With both Apple and AliveCor filing appeals, any Apple Watch regulations may not take effect for another 18 months, The Hill reported this week.

At the same time, Apple is also fighting Masimo for the Apple Watch. In May, the ITC will reveal whether an import ban will be placed on all Apple Watches other than Series 6 SEs, and after a January ruling found that Apple had infringed on the Swiss-headquartered company’s patent for a pulse oximeter .