Apple ordered to pay Masimo additional fees in patent infringement case, Apple plans to appeal

on October 13, 2026

A federal judge has ordered Apple to pay Masimo an additional $184.2 million in prejudgment interest on top of the $634 million in damages a jury awarded last year, bringing Apple's total payment obligation to more than $818 million in a long-running patent dispute over pulse oximetry technology.

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled Monday that Masimo is entitled to the interest payment stemming from Apple's infringement of a patent covering blood-oxygen monitoring technology used in Apple Watches.

The decision marks another significant victory for Masimo in its multi-year legal battle with the tech behemoth. 

The latest ruling represents just one chapter in an extensive legal saga between the two companies. Masimo and Apple have been locked in patent disputes for years, with Masimo repeatedly accusing Apple of hiring away its employees and appropriating its patented pulse oximetry technology for use in Apple Watches.

The original $634 million jury verdict came after the court found that Apple Watch features, including workout mode and heart rate notifications, violated Masimo's patent rights. This followed an earlier 2023 ruling by an International Trade Commission judge that Apple had infringed on one of five Masimo patents related to light sensor technology for measuring blood oxygen levels.

The ITC decision led to a U.S. import ban on two generations of Apple Watch in 2023. To circumvent the ban, Apple temporarily removed the blood oxygen tracking feature from its watches, though the company has since reintroduced the functionality.

Masimo has filed several lawsuits against Apple over the past six years, asserting more than 25 patents across various courts.

Apple has maintained that the majority of those patents have been found invalid and has characterized the patent at issue in the current case as "specific to historic patient monitoring technology from decades ago" that expired in 2022.

Apple will appeal the latest ruling. "We publicly disagree with the verdict, and will appeal the decision," an Apple spokesperson stated.

Apple has faced similar challenges from other healthtech competitors, including AliveCor, which secured an ITC ruling in 2022 that Apple infringed on its patents, resulting in exclusion and cease-and-desist orders

Although there are ongoing legal battles throughout the wearables industry, the market has continued expanding rapidly and is projected to reach $764 billion by 2032, suggesting significant opportunities remain for companies that can successfully navigate the competitive and legal landscape.