The White House declined to veto a ban on some Apple Watch imports, upholding the ruling won by a health company that accused Apple of patent infringement for copying its technology.  The Office of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement: “After careful consultations, Ambassador [Katherine] Tai decided not to reverse the ITC’s determination and the ITC’s decision became final on Dec. 26, 2023”

As a result, Apple can no longer sell the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 in the U.S. Apple pulled both devices from its website on December 21st and from its store shelves after December 24th.

The International Trade Commission sided with the health technology company Masimo Corp. in October, who alleged that some features on the Apple Watch Series 6 smartphone were their tech originally. Masimo said Apple had hired away some of its key employees and stole trade secrets connected wot its light-based technology for calculating blood-oxygen levels, which also appeared on the Apple Watch smartphone. The tech company filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission in 2021.

Apple said it would start phasing out sales of Apple Watch models after it failed to win a delay of the ban from the ITC last wee, and ended sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 on Thursday — pulled items from physical retail stores by Saturday.

In a statement published by Reuters, an Apple spokesperson confirmed it will appeal the ITC decision: “We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting exclusion order, and are taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.”

Editorial credit: Wongsakorn Napaeng / Shutterstock.com