Apple seeks ways to get its watches back on shelves

NEW YORK

Apple has filed an emergency motion seeking court permission to begin selling two of its most popular watches again until a final decision on its broader appeal in a bitter patent dispute is decided.

The company cut off sales right before the Christmas holiday and in a motion filed on Dec. 26, Apple said it would suffer “irreparable harm” if previous court orders remain for the two weeks that it said the U.S. International Trade Commission will take to respond to its appeal.

The disruption will likely cost Apple about $300-400 million in holiday-season sales, estimated Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.

That’s a relative drop in the bucket for Apple, given that industry analysts are expecting the company to generate nearly $120 billion in sales this quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season.

On Oct. 26, the ITC determined that Apple infringed on two patents owned by Masimo Corp. and Cercacor Laboratories, both U.S. companies.

After a 60-day review, the ITC's decision became final on Dec. 26, but the company had already pulled the watches from store shelves and removed them from its online sales lineup.

The tech giant stopped online sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 internet-connected watch last week in the U.S. after ITC rejected Apple’s bid to get around a late October order blocking the company from using some of technology underlying the blood oxygen measurement feature on the watches.

Apple contends that the ITC's decision is based on multiple factual errors and that Masimo does not sell a competing product in the U.S. in “meaningful quantities” and would not suffer harm if the order is stayed.