This is not a vote, these are facts you can check yourself:
Between 2006 and 2022: Massimo kept building a portfolio of “provisional filings”, without filing a final version that would get published
2022: Massimo launches its own watch, still without having filed for final patents
later in 2022: Apple announces a watch with similar functionality
shortly after Apple’s announcement: suddenly Massimo decides to file final versions of a slew of patents it had kept in the “provisional” stage for 15+ years
If Masimo hadn’t finalized the patent, Apple would have filed it’s own similar one and the reverse would have happened. It was literally their only option when confronted with a tech giant who is notoriously litigious. If that happened, Apple would have shut down an actual medical device company through constant legal battles Masimo couldn’t afford to win.
This isn’t trolling because Masimo is actually using the patent and the patent is specific. Patent trolling is filing a bunch of broad patents and hoarding them, often with no intent to develop a product, for the express purpose of either filing law suits or to stifle competition. Apple is often considered a troll for that latter reason.
Masimo would likely allow Apple to license the patent. But Apple tried to bypass paying licensing fees entirely and it’s still doing so. Masimo was well within it’s rights to protect itself from Apple, though. Unfortunately, this is what a smaller company protecting itself from a larger one looks like in the US.
This is not a vote, these are facts you can check yourself:
There is no counter-argument.
If Masimo hadn’t finalized the patent, Apple would have filed it’s own similar one and the reverse would have happened. It was literally their only option when confronted with a tech giant who is notoriously litigious. If that happened, Apple would have shut down an actual medical device company through constant legal battles Masimo couldn’t afford to win.
This isn’t trolling because Masimo is actually using the patent and the patent is specific. Patent trolling is filing a bunch of broad patents and hoarding them, often with no intent to develop a product, for the express purpose of either filing law suits or to stifle competition. Apple is often considered a troll for that latter reason.
Masimo would likely allow Apple to license the patent. But Apple tried to bypass paying licensing fees entirely and it’s still doing so. Masimo was well within it’s rights to protect itself from Apple, though. Unfortunately, this is what a smaller company protecting itself from a larger one looks like in the US.