Apple Watch ban halted by appeals court

An appeals court on Wednesday halted a federal ban on Apple Watch imports that took effect one day earlier.

The ban was enacted after the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that some Apple Watch models created since 2020 infringed on pulse-reader patents owned by the California-based biotech firm Masimo.

The ITC is expected to file a response to Wednesday’s ruling by Jan. 10.

According to the tech news website 9to5Mac, Apple has also submitted a software update it believes will resolve the issue.

Neither Apple nor the biotech firm, Masimo, immediately responded to requests for comment.