On June 27, 2022, ALJ Cameron Elliot issued a notice of his initial determination ("ID") finding a violation of section 337 in Certain Wearable Electronic Devices with ECG Functionality and Components Thereof (Inv. No. 337-TA-1266).
By way of background, this investigation is based on an April 20, 2021 complaint filed by AliveCor, Inc. of Mountain View, California (“ALC”) alleging a violation of section 337 by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, California (“Apple”) in the unlawful importation and/or sale in the U.S. of certain wearable electronic devices with electrocardiogram (ECG) functionality and components thereof by reason of infringement of one or more claims of U.S. Patent No. 10,595,731; U.S. Patent No. 10,638,941; and U.S. Patent No. 9,572,499. See our May 26, 2021 post for more details regarding the complaint and Notice of Investigation.
According to the notice, ALJ Elliot found a violation of section 337 based on the following conclusions of law:
- ALC has proven infringement of claims 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 of U.S. Patent No. 10,683,941 by the accused products.
- ALC has proven infringement of claims 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, and 16 of U.S. Patent No. 10,595,731 by the accused products.
- ALC has not proven infringement of claims 16 or 17 of U.S. Patent No. 9,572,499 by the accused products.
- Apple has not proven any claim of U.S. Patent No. 10,683,941 invalid.
- Apple has proven claims 1, 8, 12, and 16 of U.S. Patent No. 10,595,731 are invalid as obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103, and otherwise has not proven any claim invalid.
- Apple has proven claim 17 of U.S. Patent No. 9,572,499 is invalid for lack of patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101, and otherwise has not proven any claim invalid.
- ALC has proven the existence of a domestic industry as required by 19 U.S.C. § 1337(a)(2) for U.S. Patent Nos. 10,683,941, 10,595,731, and 9,572,499, in that it has proven that a domestic industry exists that practices at least one valid claim of each patent.
- There is a violation of section 337 with respect to U.S. Patent No. 10,683,941.
- There is a violation of section 337 with respect to U.S. Patent No. 10,595,731.
- There is no violation of section 337 with respect to U.S. Patent No. 9,572,499.
We will post the public version of the ID when it becomes available.