By Blake Brittain (Reuters) -The U.S. International Trade Commission decided on Friday to hold a new proceeding to determine whether imports of Apple's updated Apple Watches should be banned as part of a patent dispute with medical monitoring technology company Masimo. The ITC said in an order that it would investigate whether Apple Watches that were redesigned to circumvent a previous import ban issued by the commission still infringe Masimo patents covering blood-oxygen measurement technology. The commission set a target to finish the investigation within six months. Apple said the case was a meritless attempt to block its smartwatches' blood oxygen feature and that Masimo had copied its watch design in order to bring the complaint. Later on Friday, Masimo issued a statement stating that the company is "pleased by this outcome" of the U.S. jury verdict awarding Masimo $634 million in damages. APPLE, MASIMO FIGHTING ON MULTIPLE FRONTS The case is part of a contentious, multi-front patent fight between Apple and Masimo, an Irvine, California-based medical monitoring technology company that has accused the tech company of hiring away its employees to steal its pulse-oximetry innovations. The commission blocked imports of Apple's Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023 after finding that Masimo's patents were infringed. Apple removed blood-oxygen reading technology from its watches to avoid the ban, but reintroduced an updated version of the technology in August with approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Masimo has sued Customs over the approval, while Apple has separately challenged the ITC's ban at a federal appeals court. Masimo separately sued Apple in California federal court for patent infringement and trade-secret theft. A jury in Santa Ana is now weighing Masimo's allegations that Apple owes as much as $749 million in damages for infringing a Masimo patent. A California judge declared a mistrial in Masimo's trade-secret case against Apple in 2023 after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Apple won a minimal $250 verdict against Masimo in Delaware last year in a countersuit over allegations that Masimo's smartwatches infringe two Apple design patents. (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Additional reporting by Dheeraj Kumar in BengaluruEditing by Rod Nickel)
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