The court ruled that Apple’s algorithm changes were product improvements, not antitrust violations
Apple has secured a decisive victory in its long-running legal battle with AliveCor, as a US federal appeals court upheld a ruling that changes to its heart rate algorithms were lawful innovation, not anticompetitive conduct.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the 2024 ruling that Apple was within its rights to update the Apple Watch heart rate technology, even though those updates rendered AliveCor’s KardiaBand accessory incompatible.
AliveCor had argued that Apple effectively monopolized the heart rate analysis market by switching from its older “Heart Rate during Physical Observation” (HRPO) algorithm to a new neural network model in watchOS 5. AliveCor claimed this change was calculated to break third-party accessories and eliminate opposition.
The court disagreed, stating that Apple has no legal duty to freeze its technology to accommodate competitors.
“The undisputed evidence shows as a matter of law that Apple’s refusal to share HRPO data was not anticompetitive,” the ruling stated.
The court also noted that Apple provides developers access to the same raw data APIs (Tachogram) used by its own features. The decision reinforces Apple’s control over the health stack on its devices, ruling that forcing companies to share proprietary tech with rivals would stifle innovation.
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This is another major win for Apple against AliveCor, following last year’s invalidation of several AliveCor patents that had threatened an Apple Watch import ban.
However, its issues with health tech company Masimo remain ongoing, with the latest verdict in November hitting the Cupertino giant with a $634 million bill for pulse oximetry patent infringement. Currently, Apple is appealing that verdict.
