Apple won a temporary halt to its Apple Watch ban that went into effect on Tuesday. A federal appeals court ordered the import and sales ban to be halted today, after Apple asked for it to be halted at least temporarily until U.S. Customs can determine whether the changes it makes to the Apple Watch will be enough to avoid the patent dispute that led to the ban. . Customs is expected to issue its decision on January 12.
The court order means Apple can resume selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 for the time being. Both watches were pulled from its website last week and from store shelves this week, as the ban took effect. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it would resume sales.
Apple has been banned from selling and importing the two watches due to a patent dispute with medical device maker Masimo. The US International Trade Commission found that Apple had infringed Masimo's patents and ordered a sales ban in the US as a result. While it's in place, other retailers can continue to sell through their existing Apple Watch inventory, but Apple is prohibited from selling its own watches or bringing new ones into the country.
The Court of Appeal is now considering a longer stay on the import and sales ban. Apple has asked for the ban to be temporarily halted until the appeals court can issue a full ruling in the patent infringement case. That may not be determined for at least a few more weeks.
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