This archive report was first published on 28 December 2019.
On December 28, 2019, Dr. Joseph Wiesel, a cardiologist and professor at New York University School of Medicine, filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
According to the lawsuit, Wiesel's patented invention for detecting irregular heartbeats is used in Apple Watch without permission, and he is seeking compensation and an injunction to prevent Apple from further using his invention.
Wiesel's patent covers a method to detect atrial fibrillation by monitoring irregular pulse rhythms from a succession of time intervals, as he explained in a statement: “pioneering steps in atrial fibrillation detection by monitoring irregular pulse rhythms from a succession of time intervals.”
Apple's wearables segment, which includes Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Beats headphones, generated over $24 billion in sales profits last year, with a significant portion of that revenue coming from the Apple Watch's heart rate monitoring feature.
Wiesel claims that Apple refused to negotiate in good faith to license his patent when he first contacted the company in September 2017, prompting him to file the lawsuit.
