In this Saturday, March 14, 2020, file photo, an Apple logo adorns the facade of the downtown Brooklyn Apple store in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
Apple filed an emergency motion seeking court permission to begin selling two of its most popular watches again until a final decision on its broader appeal in a bitter patent dispute is decided.
The company cut off sales right before the Christmas holiday and in a motion filed Tuesday, Apple said it would suffer “irreparable harm” if previous court orders remain for the two weeks that it said the U.S. International Trade Commission will take to respond to its appeal.
The disruption will likely cost Apple about $300-400 million in holiday-season sales, estimated Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. That’s a relative drop in the bucket for Apple, given that industry analysts are expecting the company to generate nearly $120 billion in sales this quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season.
On Oct. 26, the ITC determined that Apple infringed on two patents owned by Masimo Corp. and Cercacor Laboratories, both U.S. companies. After a 60-day review, the ITC's decision became final Tuesday, but the company had already pulled the watches from store shelves and removed them from its online sales lineup.
On Tuesday, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai let the ITC decision stand.
“After careful consultations, Ambassador Tai decided not to reverse the ITC’s determination,” the office of the U.S. Trade representative said, meaning that the ITC decision officially went into effect Tuesday.
The Cupertino, California tech giant stopped online sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 internet-connected watch Thursday in the U.S. after ITC rejected Apple’s bid to get around a late October order blocking the company from using some of the technology underlying the blood oxygen measurement feature on the watches.
Previously purchased Apple Watches equipped with blood oxygen measurement aren’t affected by the ITC order.
Apple contends that the ITC's decision is based on multiple factual errors and that Masimo does not sell a competing product in the U.S. in “meaningful quantities” and would not suffer harm if the order is stayed.
Shares of Apple Inc. are down slightly on a day when the tech sector is one of the strongest in Tuesday trading.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
