Apple Is Halting Some Apple Watch Sales Amidst Patent Dispute

If you're looking to buy an Apple Watch for someone this holiday season, you might want to do it fast. The tech giant announced that it's pulling two models of its beloved smart watch from shelves in anticipation of a ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission. 

The conglomerate has been embroiled in a patent disputed with medical tech company Masimo. The ITC ruled earlier this fall that Apple illegally used blood oxygen technology from Masimo in its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 smart watches and ordered the company to stop importing the devices. A presidential review panel is looking into the ITC declaration, though the review period is scheduled to end Dec. 25. With that looming deadline, the tech company is "preemptively taking steps to comply" in case the ITC's order remains in place, according to CBS News. 

"This includes pausing sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Apple.com starting Dec. 21, and from Apple retail locations after Dec. 24," Apple said in a statement. "Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers."

It's hardly the first patent infringement mess Apple has found itself in. Earlier this year, Caltech sued Apple accusing the company of lifting some Wi-Fi patent technologies for its own devices. 

The Apple Watch's fate remains up in the air, so if someone in your life has been expecting one this holiday season, you might have to deliver them some upsetting news.