US trade tribunal to consider new Apple Watch import ban

By Blake Brittain (Reuters) -The U.S. International Trade Commission decided on Friday to hold a new proceeding to determine whether imports of Apple's updated Apple Watches should be banned as part of a patent dispute with medical monitoring technology company Masimo. The ITC said in an order that it would investigate whether Apple Watches that were redesigned to circumvent a previous import ban issued by the commission still infringe Masimo patents covering blood-oxygen measurement technology. The commission set a target to finish the investigation within six months. Apple said the case was a meritless attempt to block its smartwatches' blood oxygen feature and that Masimo had copied its watch design in order to bring the complaint. APPLE, MASIMO FIGHTING ON MULTIPLE FRONTS The case is p