Masimo CEO's friendship with Biden might have concerned Apple
We're sure that many of you were expecting to hear on Christmas Day that President Joe Biden had U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai block the International Trade Commission's (ITC) Exclusion Order that had forced Apple to pull all Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 units from both physical and online Apple Stores in the U.S. If you've been Rip Van Winkling away your last two weeks, after ruling that the aforementioned timepieces' pulse oximeters infringed on Masimo's patents, the ITC issued the Import Ban against these specific models.
As it turned out, yesterday Apple was granted a reprieve by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The latter ordered that the ITC Exclusion Order be halted until January 10th at which time the ITC must respond to Apple's demand for a longer-term pause on the ITC's order. On January 12th, Apple will hear from the U.S. Customs Department whether the software changes it proposes making to the affected Apple Watch models are enough to rescind the Import Ban.
Masimo founder and CEO Joe Kiani is a close friend of President Biden
An interesting story published today in The New York Post notes that the founder and CEO of Masimo, Joe Kiani, is a wealthy donor to not only the Democratic party but also to the Biden Foundation. According to a 2019 report from the AP, Biden spoke at an event with Kiani in the audience. During a speech, Biden called out Kiani and referred to him as "one of my closest friends." FEC records published by the Post show that Kiani has donated nearly $8 million to certain causes including $1,080,000 that he gave to the Biden Victory Fund.
Photo of Masimo founder and CEO Joe Kiani posted on The White House website
In 2021, Biden appointed Kiani to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The advisory group is charged with making science, technology, and innovation policy recommendations to the President and the White House."
Now we aren't accusing the president of not saving Apple from the ITC's Exclusion Order because of his friendship with Masimo's founder and top executive. But perhaps the White House should have issued a statement and had the president recuse himself from deciding whether to veto the Import Ban. Otherwise, it comes out in the media like this and looks bad.
A Masimo spokesman says that Kiani never lobbied the president or Tai and instead turned it around by accusing Apple CEO Tim Cook of lobbying on behalf of Apple. The Masimo spokesman said, "This dispute has never been about money for Masimo. The company’s motivation has always been and remains to hold Apple accountable for infringing Masimo's patents and to restore integrity to the marketplace."
Apple has resumed selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in its stores and online
If you live in the U.S. and have been considering the purchase of a Series 9 Apple Watch or an Apple Watch Ultra 2, you have until January 9th to make that purchase. However, if Apple can continue to hold off the ban until it exhausts all of its legal options, it could be weeks or months before Apple might have to pull the devices out of its online and physical U.S. Apple Stores again.
What happens after January is up to the courts, U.S. Customs, and the inventory of these Apple Watch models remaining at third-party stores such as Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.
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