Apple, Masimo Lawsuit Declared a Mistrial

Apple Inc. and Masimo Corp. are fighting in court over a patent infringement complaint. The latter sued the iPhone maker for allegedly stealing trade secrets, but the lawsuit ended up with no verdict.

According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge James Selna declared a mistrial in the Apple and Masimo case. The decision comes after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in what could have been a billion-dollar lawsuit.

The panel participated in a 3-day deliberation for the case but could not agree. Rather, there was discord as the jury voted 6-1 in favor of Apple. The lone juror would not budge and remain firm with her stand. She refused to change her mind, so there was no verdict in the end.

“We are not going to be able to come to a joint conclusion,” Bloomberg quoted the all-female panel as saying in their final note to the judge.

The Claifornia-based medical device company’s spokesperson said they were disappointed with the outcome with the jury failing to reach a verdict. Masimo said it is planning to file for a retrial of the infringement case against Apple Inc.

On the other hand, Apple also responded by saying it "deeply respects intellectual property and innovation and does not take or use confidential information from other companies." The company will also submit a request for the dismissal of the remaining claims.

The jury started the deliberation on April 26 after a trial that lasted three weeks, with Judge Selna asking the group in federal court in Santa Ana, California, to find out if Apple really misused confidential information from Masimo. The data is about the usage of light to measure biomarkers such as levels of blood oxygen and heart rates.

Masimo and its spinoff firm, Cercacor Laboratories, filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2020. They claimed that the tech company stole trade secrets and applied them to create some of the Apple Watch models. Masimo is asking for over $1.8 billion in compensation for damages. It originally requested $3.1 billion, but the judge dismissed some of the claims thus, the amount was reduced.

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