What you need to know
- Apple is being sued over Apple Watch apps in California.
- A company called AliveCor claims Apple has created a monopoly over heart rate apps on Apple Watch.
- AliveCor has previously sued Apple over patent infringement.
A California judge says Apple must face a lawsuit that claims it has illegally monopolized the market for heart-rate monitoring apps on Apple Watch.
A federal judge on Monday said Apple Inc (AAPL.O) must face a Silicon Valley company's claims it illegally monopolized the U.S. market for heart rate monitoring apps for its Apple Watch.U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said AliveCor Inc, whose SmartRhythm app alerts users to irregular heartbeats, could try to prove that Apple violated federal antitrust law based on its alleged "complete control" over the market for such apps.
As summarized by the judge, AliveCor "alleges that Apple made changes to the heart rate algorithm that made it effectively impossible for third parties to inform a user when to take an ECG," judge White said the case had plausibly been established that Apple's actions were anti-competitive.
However, a suit that claimed Apple had an illegal monopoly over ECG-capable smartwatches was dismissed because AliveCor's KardiaBand wristband was a complementary, not a competing device.
Last year AliveCor sued Apple over claims that the ECG tech Apple uses in its Best Apple Watch models including the Apple Watch Series 7 infringed on patents the company held.
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