Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC in a statement shared on live television that Apple has no intention to license Masimo’s patents. While it seemed likely that was the case, the company hadn’t said as much publicly until now.
“We’re focused on appeal,” Cook’s statement said. “There’s lots of reasons to buy the watch even without the blood oxygen sensor.”
I wouldn’t really bucket masimo into the little guy” team- from my time in healthcare, they are really not an ethical company due to their aggressively high pricing on simple products only they produce, stifling competition through artificial lockouts and patent trolling.
They are absolutely a “little guy” when Apple calls on the phone. And it is a gross mischaracterization to describe them as a “patent troll.” They do not collect patents for pure litigation purposes nor do the seek to use litigation to extort under the color of law for patents they do not use or plan to use.
To be clear, no one who lives in this space is a good actor with completely clean hands; however, it’s just not true to paint Masimo in this light.