Apple has halted sales of its Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9 ahead of the December 25 ITC ban.
Sales of the two Apple smartwatches were suspended on December 21 in a pre-arranged model withdrawal in the US. This move was done for a sale and import ban scheduled on Monday, with Apple stopping sales in its US Apple Stores. It’s worth noting that the ban still allows stock to enter the country but retailers who already have them will be free to put them on the shelves after the deadline.
The ITC ban came after Masimo, a medical technology company filed a case against Apple for patent infringement. Masimo filed a lawsuit in 2020 and claimed that Apple stole trade secrets and violated its patents for the blood pulse oximeter. The final say was brought in January of 2023 with the court favoring Masimo.