The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today ruled in favor of Apple in a long-running patent battle with AliveCor, affirming a previous decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that invalidated AliveCor’s ECG-related patents.
The ruling marks another loss for AliveCor’s attempt to claim patent rights over smartwatch-based arrhythmia detection technology, a feature central to both companies’ wearable health monitoring offerings. An AliveCor spokesperson described the decision as disappointing.
AliveCor, a Mountain View, California–based company specializing in AI-powered heart monitoring, developed early consumer ECG technology, including the FDA-cleared KardiaBand accessory for the Apple Watch. The company claims that Apple unfairly used its patented innovations while restricting third-party developers, including AliveCor, from operating on the Apple Watch platform.
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The dispute formally escalated in 2021, when AliveCor filed patent infringement claims against Apple and lodged an antitrust complaint separately. AliveCor brought the case to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), seeking an import ban on Apple Watches with the ECG technology.
While the ITC later ruled in AliveCor’s favor on the infringement issue, Apple challenged the validity of AliveCor’s patents at the PTAB, which ultimately found them invalid on obviousness in December 2022. AliveCor appealed that decision, which led to the ruling being issued this week.
The Federal Circuit’s decision today upholds the PTAB’s conclusion that AliveCor’s patents were unpatentable because the claimed technology was obvious based on prior research and existing technology. The court rejected AliveCor’s arguments that Apple’s evidence was flawed and affirmed that substantial prior art already existed.
“Because the Board’s obviousness conclusion is supported by substantial evidence and AliveCor forfeited its discovery challenge, we affirm,” the federal circuit court’s ruling said.
In a statement emailed to MassDevice, AliveCor spokesperson said:
These cases go beyond AliveCor; these cases represent every small company and every future innovation that is at risk of being suppressed by a Goliath. Our fight against Apple is necessary to preserve innovation, fair competition, and the ability to ensure that inventors – both today and of the future – have the IP protection needed to build and scale new technologies.
We will continue to explore all available legal options, including potential appeals, to defend our position that our patents are valid and that Apple infringed our intellectual property rights. As we move forward, our focus remains on transforming the industry with clinically validated, AI-powered solutions that help democratize access to cardiac care.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
