The US International Trade Commission argues that Apple’s argument is insufficient to support the suspension of the Apple Watch Series and Watch Ultra 2.
The US Court of Appeals gave Apple permission to temporarily halt the prohibition on the Watch Series 8 and Watch 2 Ultra last month. The US International Trade Commission (ITC), which imposed the restriction, has written to the Court to contest the validity of the prohibition on these two smartwatches.
ITC doesn’t think Apple has a compelling enough case to keep selling its products while the appeal is pending. Due to a patent disagreement with the manufacturer of medical devices, Masimo, the Cupertino business was prohibited from selling and importing Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.
Future looks bleak for the new Apple watches
As highlighted by the document filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (shared by MacRumors), ITC lawyers said “Apple presents a weak and unconvincing case to invoke the extraordinary remedy of a stay pending appeal.”
Apple’s claims, according to the ITC, “amount to little more than an indisputably adjudicated infringer requesting permission to continue infringing the asserted patents,” the agency said.
Until January 15, the court is accepting comments in support of the ITC’s ruling from additional parties. It appears that the Apple Watch will be available for purchase through early next week at the latest.
On December 24, Apple withdrew the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 from its physical locations; on December 21, it began taking them off from its website. On December 28, the watches were once again available for purchase.
