A new lawsuit against Apple Inc. charges that the company infringed 10 patents to develop the health monitoring features in the latest Apple Watch model. 

The case, first reported by Bloomberg Thursday afternoon, was filed in a federal courthouse in Santa Ana, California, by two medical technology companies. The first plaintiff, Masimo Corp., is a publicly traded maker of patient monitoring equipment, while the other is a firm called Cercacor Laboratories Inc. that likewise develops devices for the healthcare sector.

The Apple Watch 5 introduced in September uses light sensing techniques to monitor the wearer’s heart rate. Emitters on the bottom of the case illuminate the wearer’s wrist, while a tiny sensor measures how much light is absorbed in the blood to extrapolate their pulse.

The patents Masimo and Cercacor accuse Apple of improperly using cover various methods related to light-based heart and blood oxygen monitoring. The companies claim that the roots of the dispute stretch back to 2013, when the iPhone maker is said to have approached Masimo about a potential partnership. The talks didn’t yield fruit, but Apple later recruited Masimo Chief Medical Officer Michael O’Reilly to lead its healthcare technology group and also hired Marcelo Lamego, Cercacor’s chief technology officer.

The suit goes beyond the core patent infringement claims. Masimo and Cerecor have also asked the court for rights to seven patents and patent applications that were issued to Lamego after he was hired by Apple. Those inventions, the companies argue, are based on information the executive acquired during his time at Cercacor. 

The suit furthermore seeks undisclosed financial damages from the iPhone maker along with an injunction banning sales of the Apple Watch 5.

The case is just one of several intellectual property disputes in which Apple is currently involved. Another case, filed last month by a New York University cardiologist, charges that the Apple Watch infringes a patent related to the detection of irregular heartbeat patterns. But Masimo’s and Cercacor’s suit may carry particular weight for Apple because Masimo has a fairly strong track record when it comes to intellectual proprietary litigation.

In 2006, Masimo  won a nine-figure settlement from a medical device manufacturer that was found to have violated some of its patents for patient monitoring methods. In 2014 the company won a similar $467 million suit against Koninklijke Philips N.V. Both those disputes focused mainly on patents related to measuring blood oxygen levels, a capability the Apple Watch doesn’t provide, but some of the 10 patents Masimo has accused Apple of violating do cover technology used for oximetry.

The suit comes just days after smart speaker maker Sonos Inc. sued Google LLC for allegedly stealing some of its intellectual property to develop the Google Home device family.

Photo: Pixabay