Since a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday halted a government commission’s import ban on the watches imposed in a patent dispute over its medical monitoring technology, Apple can now resume sales of its flagship smartwatches.

The tech behemoth had filed an emergency plea with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, requesting that the order set aside by the U.S. International Trade Commission—which had declared that Apple had violated Masimo’s patents—be stopped.

According to analysts, a final ruling would cost both companies millions of dollars and might even require a settlement or some sort of technological workaround by Apple.

Ultimately, they added, the negative publicity the lawsuit is creating is probably going to outweigh any financial loss for Apple.

Following the ruling on Wednesday, Masimo’s shares closed 4.6% lower at $115.11, while Apple’s shares were unchanged at $193.15.

“We are thrilled to return the full Apple Watch lineup to customers in time for the new year,” Apple said in a statement. “Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, including the blood oxygen feature, will become available for purchase again in the United States at Apple Stores starting today and from apple.com tomorrow by 12 pm PT.”

There were no comments on the court decision from Masimo.

Sales and importation of Apple Watches equipped with blood-oxygen sensor technology were prohibited by the ITC. In 2020, Apple began including a pulse oximeter function into its smartwatches with the release of the Series 6.

Masimo has charged Apple with stealing its pulse oximetry technology, hiring away its staff, and putting it into Apple Watches. Defending Masimo’s legal efforts as a “manoeuvre to clear a path” for its own competing smartwatch, Apple has countersued.

“Apple can easily develop their own blood monitoring software, it is just a matter of time … The software development costs are not something that will be too concerning for a company as wealthy as Apple,” said Stuart Cole, chief macro economist at Equiti Capital.

“The bigger issue is that this is not very good PR for Apple, suggesting as it does that Apple is stealing technology from competitors rather than developing its own. Apple is fighting this lawsuit more with an eye on what it means for their future health-wearable products rather than this specific blood oxygen monitoring piece of software,” he said.

The appeals court declared in a four-paragraph decision on Wednesday that it would suspend the ban while it reviewed Apple’s request for a longer-term stay of action while the appeals process was ongoing. The ITC was given until January 10th by the court to address Apple’s motion.

On Tuesday, the administration of US President Joe Biden decided not to veto the prohibition, enabling it to go into effect. Later that day, Apple requested a suspension in the prohibition.

Apple has stated that it is pursuing a number of technological and legal alternatives.

The business informed the court on Tuesday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection is examining whether or not redesigned watches that it sells violate Masimo’s patents and are eligible for importation. According to Apple, the customs department has set a deadline of January 12th for its judgement.

Because of the ITC ruling, Apple has stopped selling the impacted iPhones in the US last week both online and in-store. Retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, and Walmart still carried them.

The Apple Watch SE, a less expensive device without a pulse oximeter, was unaffected by the ban. The prohibition did not apply to timepieces that had already been sold.

In May, a jury trial concerning Masimo’s accusations against Apple in a federal court in California was declared a mistrial.

As to a company report, Apple’s wearables, home, and accessories division, which encompasses the Apple Watch, AirPods earbuds, and other items, generated $8.28 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2023.

(Adapted from FT.com)