A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed by the venture-backed medical products company AliveCor against
Apple
over heart-rate monitoring technology in the Apple Watch.
Judge Jeffrey White, sitting in the Northern District of California, granted Apple’s motion for summary judgment in the case. The detailed decision remains under seal.
AliveCor had asserted that changes Apple made to the heart rate algorithm in its WatchOS software were anticompetitive, degrading the functionality of its heart rate analysis app. Apple responded that the updates algorithm resulted in better data for consumers.
“Apple wanted to improve its popular workout technology, so it built a better algorithm and has used that software to the benefit of consumers and developers,” Apple said in its motion for summary judgment. “There is not even a whiff that Apple has extracted supracompetitive profits or charged supracompetitive prices.”
In a statement, Apple thanked the court for its ruling.
“AliveCor’s lawsuit challenged Apple’s ability to improve important capabilities of the Apple Watch that consumers and developers rely on, and today’s outcome confirms that is not anticompetitive,” the company said in a statement. “We thank the Court for its careful consideration of this case, and will continue to protect the innovations we advance on behalf of our customers against meritless claims.”
AliveCor said it plans to appeal the decision.
“AliveCor is deeply disappointed and strongly disagrees with the court’s decision to dismiss our anti-competition case and we plan to appeal,” the company said. “We will continue to vigorously protect our intellectual property to benefit our consumers and promote innovation.”
AliveCor also noted that the International Trade Commision in late 2022 found that the Apple Watch violated patented AliveCor technology. Apple has said it would appeal that ruling.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
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