The United States International Trade Commission ruled that Apple's Apple Watch infringed AliveCor's patent.

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen Brother Black fly's left hand clue delivery! CTOnews.com, Dec. 23 (Xinhua)-- the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) confirmed on Thursday that Apple's Apple Watch with an electrocardiogram (ECG) function infringes the patents of medical device maker AliveCor Inc.

Tuyuan AliveCorITC ruled against the import of infringing Apple Watch, but ITC will not enforce the ban for the time being because of a continuing appeal to the US Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO). Earlier this month, another trial body ruled that AliveCor's patent was invalid.

Apple and AliveCor didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

AliveCor last year accused Apple of infringing three patents related to its KardiaBand, an Apple Watch accessory that monitors a user's heart rate, detects abnormalities and performs ECG to identify heart problems such as atrial fibrillation.

AliveCor, based in Mountain View, Calif., stopped selling KardiaBand in 2018 after Apple introduced the ECG function to Apple Watch. AliveCor applied to the US International Trade Commission last year, arguing that Apple had been copying its technology since Apple Watch Series 4 and drove AliveCor out of the market by making the wearOS incompatible with KardiaBand.

CTOnews.com learned that both Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 8 have ECG technology. On December 6, at the request of Apple, the Patent trial and Appeals Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office invalidated the AliveCor patent in a related case. The tech giant also filed a counterclaim in San Francisco federal court on suspicion of infringing its patents.

Related links:

"Apple won the legal battle with AliveCor, whose patents were declared invalid."

"Apple countersued AliveCor, and your company wasn't even established when you applied for an ECG patent."