In late 2023, Apple took a small hit in the Christmas shopping season thanks to medical device maker Masimo. Masimo was prevented from selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the U.S. by an International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 infringe pulse oximetry patents. Success.

Between December 21 and December 27, only the Apple Watch SE, which does not have this feature, was available for purchase at Apple stores. However, Apple quickly made up for it by removing the blood oxygen measurement feature from its flagship smartwatch sold new.

On Friday, Apple exacted a small revenge against Masimo, Bloomberg Law reported. A federal jury in Delaware concluded that the company had infringed two Apple patents on one of its smartwatches. In the end, however, this is not much of a prize for several reasons.

First, the damages will not make the world's richest company richer. The fee sought by Apple is only $250 (yes, only zero one dollar), the statutory minimum compensation.

“We're not here for the money,” Apple attorney John Desmarais was quoted as telling the jury in his closing statement, adding that the purpose of the lawsuit was to “stop copying our designs.”

However, two design patents were indeed found to have been infringed, one for the charger and the other for the health module of the watch itself, neither of which is included in Masimo's current product, making any future injunction of sales essentially meaningless, Bloomberg explained. The article goes on to say that “the decision virtually eliminates any chance of blocking Masimo's current products.”

Claiming that the jury ruled in favor of the company “on almost every issue,” Masimo's statement opined that the legal action was a failure for the iPhone maker. The statement reads, “Apple primarily sought an injunction against Masimo's current products, and the jury's verdict is a victory for Masimo on that issue.”

Apple, as you might imagine, is trying to paint things differently. “We find that Masimo willfully infringed Apple's patented designs and thank the jury for their careful consideration in this case,” the statement shared to 9to5Mac reads. “The Apple team worked for years to develop the Apple Watch, a successful and innovative product that has a meaningful impact on users' lives.

“Masimo took a shortcut, copied the Apple Watch, and launched a device that infringes on our intellectual property. We are pleased that the jury's decision today protects the innovation we are advancing on behalf of our customers."

”We are pleased that the jury's decision today protects the innovation we are advancing on behalf of our customers.

Both claim victory in their own ways, and the two statements are not really contradictory. But whichever side you believe, the trial will not directly affect the blood oxygen level sensing of Apple's wearable devices.

No recent Apple updates were heard, but in February, Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated that the company plans to appeal the ITC's ruling rather than settle and seek a licensing agreement for the technology from Masimo.

“We are focused on the appeal,” Cook's statement, found by AppleInsider, read.

While this is being done, the feature will remain disabled on new Apple Watches, including the newly released Series 10. There were concerns that this would prevent the expected addition of sleep apnea detection, but the feature was eventually included in the new wearables, which use the device's accelerometer for monitoring, rather than the blood oxygen sensor.