Apple Inc (AAPL)

[Investors3]

Judge cuts Apple’s damages exposure as Masimo trade secrets case goes to jury
Thursday, April 27, 2023 4:02 pm

Apple would have to pay a maximum of $1.85 billion if it’s found liable of illegally profiting from Masimo’s blood-oxygen monitoring technology, a little more than half the $3.1 billion the firm was seeking.

Joe Schneider for Bloomberg News:

A federal judge in Santa Ana, California, dismissed business and marketing claims against the iPhone maker at the end of a three-week trial, leaving for the jury to decide only if Apple improperly used trade secrets related to a blood-oxygen monitoring sensor in its Apple Watch.

Apple poached Masimo employees to learn about its technology after Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook nixed an internal proposal to buy the company, Masimo’s lawyer, Joseph Re, told the jury in closing arguments Wednesday.

Apple has denied any wrongdoing, with its lawyer, Joseph Mueller, telling jurors that all its employees involved in the development of the blood-oxygen center had denied on the witness stand using any Masimo trade secrets.

MacDailyNews Take: The end of this one is near (hopefully). How Apple would ever find a whole $1.85 billion if the jury sides with Masimo? (Apple last quarter posted quarterly revenue of $117.2 billion while generating $34 billion in operating cash flow.)

Also of note: Apple in October 2022 filed a lawsuit against Masimo alleging that that Masimo’s W1 watch copies the design and functionality of the Apple Watch.

https://macdailynews.com/2023/04/27/judge-cuts-apples-damages-exposure-as-masimo-trade-secrets-case-goes-to-jury/