Nearly a year after a court determined that Apple violated a Masimo patent covering low‑power pulse‑oximetry technology in the Apple Watch, the tech giant was initially ordered to pay $634 million in damages. A federal judge has now added an extra $184 million in interest to that award.
The dispute with Masimo has played out on several fronts. Most notably, an International Trade Commission decision forced Apple to drop the blood‑oxygen sensor from two Watch models sold in the United States in 2023, prompting a redesign of the feature to regain market access. In parallel, Masimo sued Apple for damages related to the alleged unlicensed use of its power‑efficient blood‑oxygen measurement method.
Apple was found liable and told to compensate Masimo as if it had paid the appropriate licensing fees. Bloomberg Law reports that the judge has now awarded an additional £184 million in interest on that sum. Judge James V. Selna dismissed Apple’s claim that the interest would be a windfall, citing Supreme Court precedent that interest merely makes the patent holder whole.
Judge James V. Selna rejected Apple’s argument that awarding interest would constitute a windfall for Masimo, citing US Supreme Court guidance that “interest from the time that the royalty payments would have been received merely serves to make the patent owner whole.”
Although Masimo had sought interest at a 7 % rate, the judge ruled the rate should match Masimo’s own borrowing costs. Annual compounding still resulted in roughly $184 million of extra interest. Via MacRumors