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Apple Wins Appeal to Temporarily Pause Watch Import Ban

The U.S. International Trade Commission found in October that the watches’ blood oxygen sensors violated a patent owned by a medical device company.

Apple will be able to sell its latest Apple Watches—for now—after an appeals court temporarily discontinued an import ban on the devices Wednesday. The technology company was forced to pull its popular Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches off the market last week after the U.S. International Trade Commission found in October that the products’ blood oxygen sensors violated a patent owned by Masimo, a medical device company based in Irvine, California. The Wall Street Journal previously said in April that Masimo and other businesses accused Apple of copying their intellectual property and using combative legal tactics to avoid paying royalties. But the new decision comes after Apple’s appeal on Tuesday in response to the Biden administration’s refusal to overturn the court ruling. According to the newspaper, the company had also asked the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which enforces import bans, to accept new designs of its two restricted watches that are compliant with the ITC. A representative from Apple did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.