While the Apple Watch is back on the market, Apple’s patent dispute with medical device company Masimo is far from over. In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Masimo CEO Joe Kiani goes in-depth on why he’s determined to fight Apple until the end: “No one is standing up to them. If I can do it, it might change Apple for the better.”
In the interview, Kiani says that Masimo has spent around $100 million fighting Apple so far, a battle that started in January 2020. As the WSJ points out, Masimo’s total profit for 2022 was around $144 million.
Before taking on Apple, Masimo employees and friends of Kiani warned him on the risks of going forward. “People were telling me I’m crazy and I can’t go against Apple,” said Kiani. “They have unlimited resources.”
Even though Masimo’s battles with Apple are likely years from being over, the company has successfully won similar cases in the past.
In 2006, [Kiani] prevailed in a seven-year patent spat with Nellcor, a company that was then a dominant provider of a rival pulse oximeter device. In 2016, he beat Royal Philips in another patent-infringement case.
As part of the Nellcor settlement in 2006, Masimo received nearly $800 million in damages and royalties. In the Royal Philips settlement in 2016, the company paid Masimo $300 million and agreed to a licensing deal that generated “more than $1 billion for Masimo.”
Kiani says that Apple has yet to partake in “serious discussions about a settlement” with Masimo. In previous interviews, Kiani said that Masimo is open to a settlement with Apple, but “it takes two to tango.”
“I feel like I have to do this,” Kiani concludes. “If I can change the most powerful company in the world from continuing to act badly, that’ll have more impact on the world than anything else I’m doing.”
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