AppleMed or Merging of Technologies

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AppleMed or Merging (of technologies) and diversifying (of legal cases)

Now that has got to be something of a first (or, at least, one of the firsts). Technology firms bringing legal actions against each other for copyrights is pretty much the norm, to that we have used to long ago. But a gadget maker suing for intellectual rights of medical appliance technology? Then again, coming to think about it, it probably was to be expected. And yes, it was equally likely that it would be AppleMed who’d break this ground.

Because, with advanced technologies continuing to permeate all aspects of our lives, it was only a matter of time before computer / phone / other gadget engineering would branch from the area of entertainment and communication into some quite different areas. After all, the said aspects of our lives tend to overlap quite notably, and, for example, such things as “tech diagnostics” are called diagnostics for a reason. And you never know which uses any new engineering method developed in whatever tech company might end up being put to. It’s all merging now.

So, is it really surprising that Apple, the maker, among other things, of the famous range of vitals’ monitoring devices, has finally taken a medical company (Masimo, to be precise) to court?

So, is it really surprising that Apple, the maker, among other things, of the famous range of vitals’ monitoring devices, has finally taken a medical company (Masimo, to be precise) to court? Well, not much. The Apple Watch undoubtedly contributed quite a bit into blurring the line between pure gadgetry and iatric devices (and Apple itself is still continuing to do so by creating such tools as insulin monitoring sets). And, considering the level of this particular company’s R&D work, it’s no wonder that this type of their production can also be, shall we say, rather tempting in terms of derivation.

Especially taking into account that the product in dispute is, indeed, a smartwatch model (or rather, the health watch, as Masimo the manufacturer presents it) – the W1, to be precise. According to the Apple representative, the overall style and the power banks of this particular watch too closely resemble those of Apple’s models for comfort.

But what makes this legal action story especially funny is the fact that it was actually Masimo who sued Apple first, accusing them of the very same industrial spying – and over the very same sort of thing, i.e. medical diagnostics technology.

But what makes this legal action story especially funny is the fact that it was actually Masimo who sued Apple first (as far back as in 2020), accusing them of the very same industrial spying – and over the very same sort of thing, i.e. medical diagnostics technology (such as the very same blood insulin measurement tools). It even appealed to the American powers-that-be calling for Apple Watch imports interception at the time.

Moreover, Masimo even accuses Apple of bringing the case in question specifically in order to distract the authorities and the public from exactly that previous lawsuit the medical equipment company filed against the tech giant. (In which case Apple is certainly being a tad late with that, so in our opinion, this accusation is somewhat wanting in terms of credibility, even considering the speed – or rather lack thereof – of the law bureaucracy).

But whoever is really at fault in this particular case – and whoever will be found guilty at court – one thing is for sure: the equipment development segments keep expanding into each other. And in addition to the well-known WWW – the Worldwide Web – we are inevitably going to get the LWT: Lifewide Technology. So expect more cases like that, our distinguished audience. And let us hope that even they will spur the growth of the inventions in all these areas, not stall them.