Apple got some bad news today. The company was ordered to pay an additional $184 million in interest on top of a jury’s previous $634 million verdict in a patent infringement case involving Masimo.
The initial ruling came out in November of last year, when a jury found that Apple infringed Masimo’s patents related to the use of heart rate monitoring functions in its Apple Watches. Masimo was then awarded $634 million in damages.
Now, Judge James Selna has rejected Apple’s argument that interest constitutes a windfall for Masimo, citing US Supreme Court guidance that “interest from the time royalty payments have been received only serves to make the patent owner whole”.
At the same time, the judge also rejected Masimo’s request for a 7% interest rate, which would have resulted in a $243 million interest payment from Apple. Instead, the court decided to use Masimo’s own loan rate, compounded annually from when the violation began.
So what was a $634 million bill for Apple has now become an $818 million bill instead. This is still pennies for Apple, but it’s a significant win for Masimo.
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