Apple watch ban is a cherry on top of Cook’s miserable year
Barring a last minute (and unlikely) presidential veto, the Apple Watch is largely coming off US shelves. Starting Thursday, Apple Inc. will stop selling the latest versions of the device though its online store and then in its physical stores, too, by Christmas Eve. Other sellers like Best Buy can continue to sell them until they are out of stock. It's a miserable end to a lackluster year for America's most valuable company and its chief executive officer, Tim Cook.
Apple has found itself on the losing side of a patent dispute with a US medical technology company, Masimo Corp., which accused the tech giant of infringing patents related to its blood-oxygen sensors. Apple denied the claim, but it was upheld by the US International Trade Commission in October, giving 60 days notice on a ban that takes effect on Christmas Day. Apple's announcement that it would halt sales early has been seen as a potential last-gasp effort to force the president's hand — though White House interventions in such matters are rare, particularly when the row is between two US companies.
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The ITC is no Scrooge, and Apple certainly has questions to answer. As well as its patent claims, Masimo has taken Apple to court accusing it of stealing trade secrets. Apple, Masimo contended, enthusiastically set up meetings between the companies to discuss innovations and a potential partnership that never materialized. Apple then set about poaching key employees. The end result, Masimo contended, was theft of trade secrets and an Apple blood-oxygen sensor too similar in design and function to what Masimo had prodiced. (A jury trial on those matters ended in stalemate earlier this year. Apple disputes the accusation of
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