The Apple Watch import ban made huge headlines after the Biden Administration decided not to veto the restriction. Because of this, the iPhone maker can no longer sell its latest smartwatches via its official stores.
Luckily, this scenario changed after the gadget manufacturer scored a major victory on Wednesday, Dec. 27. Apple was able to do this after filing an emergency request to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The appeals court then decided to temporarily pause the Apple Watch import ban. Here are other details consumers need to know.
US Temporarily Lifts Apple Watch Import Ban
On Monday, the Biden Admin refused to pause the import ban of ITC against Apple's smartwatches. This was confirmed by the Office of the U.S. Trades Representatives on Dec. 26.
But, Apple was able to appeal the decision, allowing the latest Apple Watch models to be sold in the U.S., thanks to the temporary ban lift made by the U.S. appeals court.
"This is a big win for Apple that was unexpected by many given the legal issues involved in this patent battle," said Dan Ives, a Wedbush Securities analyst, via AOL.
"Masimo now has a big fight ahead. We expect an appeals case in January to be a big moment," he added.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's four-paragraph decision said that it would temporarily halt the import restriction while waiting for Apple's motion for a longer-term halt, as reported by CNBC.
Officials said that they will wait for the measures of the iPhone maker during the appeals process. Meanwhile, the appeals court gave the U.S. International Trade Commission to respond to Apple's request until Jan. 10.
"The motion for an interim stay is granted to the extent that the Remedial Orders are temporarily stayed," explained the court filing.
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What Apple Watch Import Ban Lift Means for Consumers
Apple is not the only one benefitting from the temporary Apple Watch import ban lift.
Consumers of the iPhone maker can also take advantage of this halt since they can now order the latest Ultra 2 and Series 9 watches via the official Apple stores.
However, interested Apple Watch buyers need to decide if they want to purchase the newest smartwatch models this December since Apple's case against Masimo's allegations is still ongoing.
If ever Apple really loses against Masimo, then the import ban could drastically affect its business; making it lose hundreds of millions of dollars.
"Going forward, it's absolutely certain they are going to have to take a different approach in future hardware to still enable this feature," explained Creative Strategies CEO Ben Bajarin.
