A New York doctor has filed a suit against Apple claiming that the Apple Watch uses heart rate technology that infringes a patent he owns, reports Bloomberg.
Dr Joseph Wiesel filed the suit in Brooklyn, saying the Apple Watch uses technology that copies his own invention – one that Wiesel claims took “pioneering steps” to improve arterial fibrillation detection and can spot “irregular pulse rhythms from a succession of time intervals.”
Every Apple Watch except the very first model can alert wearers to potential irregular rhythms in their heart rates and the feature has become something of a cornerstone of the Apple Watch’s appeal. The device has grown from a glorified notification wearable to something of a premium fitness and health device with great success.
Wiesel, who claims Apple has “refused to negotiate in good faith to avoid this lawsuit” teaches at NYU School of Medicine and first raised his concerns with Apple directly in 2017. He is asking for royalties or for the court to block Apple using his claimed invention at all.
It’ll be interesting to see what the ruling is, as Apple has long been lauded a pioneer in many areas, but it has come as something of a surprise that it has managed to potentially pioneer heart health technology.
Then again, it isn’t short of cash and can hire pretty much anyone – sometimes it’s the company’s secrecy that leads to accusations of patent infringement such as this.