The International Trade Commission recently issued an exclusion order barring Apple Watch imports starting December 25, pending White House approval, after finding that it infringed two Masimo patents. Washington, DC Principal Nick Matich discussed the decision and the potential for a White House veto, noting that even if Apple’s argument that the watch was essential for health and safety were true, “that's in some ways all the more reason to enforce the relevant IP rights, because we want to encourage people to continue to invent such devices." He added that this will be an “important test for President Biden on IP issues” given the ITC is the only forum where patent owners can regularly obtain exclusionary relief. If Apple is not able to persuade the White House to overrule the ban, he noted that “since the patent suit only pertains to one very specific feature of Apple’s product,” Apple can rescue the product by removing the feature.
