The Apple Watch Series 9 is back on sale in the USA, at least temporarily as it tries to resolve its patent row with California-based health technology company Masimo.

The row dates back to October when the International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a banning order on Apple for allegedly poaching employees and stealing blood oxygen level monitoring technology.

The ban relates to the Apple Watch Series 9 (www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-9) and Ultra 2 (www.apple.com/apple-watch-ultra-2) watches in the USA.

Masimo initially sued Apple in 2020 over the alleged patent breach.

US president Joe Biden had 60 days to review and overturn the ITC order, which took it up to December 25, 2023. Biden chose not to veto the ban.

However, the US Court of Appeals has temporarily paused the ban, which means Apple can start selling the watches again; this happened last week.

On January 15, the appeals court will hear a motion from Apple requesting the ban be lifted during the whole appeals process. Apple said in a statement that it strongly disagreed with the ITC decision.

When the ban was first imposed, Joe Kiani, CEO of Masimo (www.masimo.com), said the ruling “sends a powerful message that even the world’s largest company is not above the law” and that “this important determination is a strong validation of our efforts to hold Apple accountable for unlawfully misappropriating our patented technology”.

Apple last month did temporarily remove the watches from sale on its web site and US stores. Sales elsewhere in the world have not been affected.

Apple says it has redesigned its watches in a way that does not include the disputed technology, and this is the main basis for its appeal.

Data from Stocklytics (stocklytics.com) say Apple has maintained its dominance in the smartwatch sector with a 59% market share, outshining rival Fitbit by a 32%.