Masimo v. Apple (25-1189): Federal Circuit Appeal Voluntarily Dismissed
Masimo Corp. appealed a patentability ruling against Apple Inc. at the Federal Circuit over US11106352B2, a patent covering graphical user interfaces for accessing notifications. The parties reached agreement to dismiss the appeal in just 101 days, with each side bearing its own costs — leaving the underlying validity question unresolved on the merits.
A swift agreed exit: Masimo drops Federal Circuit appeal against Apple
Filed on 18 November 2024, case No. 25-1189 placed Masimo Corp. before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a patentability challenge against Apple Inc. The patent at issue — US11106352B2 (application No. US16/915971) — covers devices, methods, and graphical user interfaces for accessing notifications, a technology area central to Apple’s wearable and mobile product ecosystem. Masimo, a medical-technology and consumer-wearables company, had pursued an invalidity or cancellation action against the patent.
The proceeding closed on 27 February 2025, just 101 days after filing, when the parties jointly agreed to dismiss the appeal under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 42(b). The court ordered each side to bear its own costs. Critically, the dismissal was recorded as voluntary, but the public record does not specify whether it was with or without prejudice — a distinction that carries significant implications for whether Masimo retains the right to bring equivalent claims in future proceedings.
The 101-day resolution is notably short for a Federal Circuit appeal, strongly suggesting that a negotiated resolution — whether a commercial agreement, licence, or litigation truce — was reached outside the court record. What drove the parties to exit so rapidly remains unknown from public filings. The unresolved patentability question means the validity of US11106352B2 was not adjudicated on the merits at this appellate stage, which may preserve strategic optionality for both sides going forward.
Filing to Voluntary dismissal in 101 days
101-day appeal — resolved well below the Federal Circuit median of ~2 years
Voluntarily dismissed: what the agreed exit means for both parties
Fed. R. App. P. 42(b): voluntary dismissal by agreement
Rule 42(b) allows parties to a Federal Circuit appeal to stipulate to dismissal without any merits adjudication. The court enters the order as agreed and allocates costs as specified by the parties — here, each side bears its own. Critically, Rule 42(b) does not itself determine whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice; that turns on the underlying PTAB or district court record and any side agreement between the parties.
No merits ruling enteredWith or without prejudice? The public record is silent
A voluntary dismissal with prejudice bars the same challenger from re-litigating the same invalidity grounds. A dismissal without prejudice preserves that option. The order in Case 25-1189 simply states the proceeding is ‘DISMISSED’ under Rule 42(b) — it does not specify either formulation. This silence is strategically significant: it leaves ambiguity about Masimo’s ability to bring equivalent patentability challenges in future inter partes review or other proceedings.
Prejudice terms undisclosedMasimo exits without a merits win — but avoids an adverse ruling
As appellant, Masimo bore the burden of demonstrating error in the decision below. By agreeing to dismiss, Masimo avoids a potentially unfavourable Federal Circuit opinion on the patentability of US11106352B2. The swift 101-day resolution and mutual cost-bearing suggest the parties may have reached a broader commercial arrangement, though no such agreement appears in the public record.
No adverse ruling on recordApple retains patent without appellate merits test
Apple, as appellee and patent holder, avoids the risk of an adverse Federal Circuit ruling on validity. US11106352B2 remains in force with its validity question unresolved at the appellate level. This preserves Apple’s enforcement position for the patent covering GUI notification access — technology embedded across its wearable and mobile device lines — while the underlying lower-level record stands undisturbed.
Patent validity unchallenged on appealFull party and counsel information
| Role | Name | Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plaintiff | Masimo, Corp. | Company | Medical-tech and consumer wearables company — holder of patentability challenge over US11106352B2Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant | Apple, Inc. | Company | Apple Inc. — global consumer electronics and software company; patent owner in this proceedingSearch in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff counsel | Edward M. Cannon | Attorney | Counsel for Masimo, Corp.Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff counsel | Irfan A. Lateef | Attorney | Counsel for Masimo, Corp.Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Plaintiff law firm | Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, LLP | Law Firm | Representing Masimo, Corp.Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant counsel | Mark D. Selwyn | Attorney | Counsel for Apple, Inc.Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant counsel | Thomas Gregory Sprankling | Attorney | Counsel for Apple, Inc.Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Defendant law firm | Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP | Law Firm | Representing Apple, Inc.Search in Eureka ↗ |
| Presiding judge | Judge N/A | Judge | Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitSearch in Eureka ↗ |
Official order — verbatim text
The order’s phrasing — ‘The parties having so agreed’ — confirms this was a consensual exit, not a court-initiated termination. The invocation of Fed. R. App. P. 42(b) establishes the procedural basis but is silent on prejudice. No merits analysis, claim construction, or patentability finding was issued. For practitioners, this means the decision below (the PTAB or district court record) remains the operative authority on validity, and no Federal Circuit estoppel attaches to either party from this proceeding alone.
US11106352B2 — GUI interfaces for accessing device notifications
US11106352B2 (application US16/915971) protects devices, methods, and graphical user interfaces for accessing notifications on electronic devices. The patent addresses how notifications are surfaced, navigated, and dismissed through touch-screen or wearable UI paradigms — a foundational interaction layer for smartwatches, smartphones, and health-monitoring wearables. The application falls within the broader Apple human-interface patent estate that underpins iOS and watchOS interaction design.
This patent sits at the intersection of wearable-device UX and software-implemented interaction design — a commercially high-value zone as notification management becomes a differentiating feature across health wearables, fitness trackers, and smartwatch platforms. For competitors developing notification interfaces on wearable or mobile hardware, US11106352B2 represents a non-trivial enforcement asset in Apple’s hands: it survived a Federal Circuit appeal challenge without any adverse validity ruling, marginally strengthening its practical enforceability posture.
Should you run an FTO against US11106352B2?
Any R&D or product team developing notification UI layers for smartwatches, health monitors, fitness bands, or mobile operating systems should treat US11106352B2 as a live FTO concern. The patent was challenged at the Federal Circuit and survived — not on merits, but by voluntary dismissal — leaving its claims intact. That outcome, combined with Apple’s known history of active patent enforcement in the wearables space, elevates the priority of conducting a thorough freedom-to-operate review before product launch or feature rollout.
PatSnap Eureka’s FTO Search Agent can map the claims of US11106352B2 against your product architecture, identify continuation and family patents sharing the same priority date, and surface design-around pathways. Eureka’s claim-chart generation and prior-art mining tools allow IP teams to assess infringement vectors rapidly — enabling informed go/no-go decisions before engineering resources are committed to notification-interface features that may overlap with Apple’s protected UI methods.
Run a freedom-to-operate analysis on US11106352B2 to assess your product’s exposure
Run FTO in Eureka →Similar Federal Circuit GUI and wearables patent appeals
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What this case signals for the wearables and GUI patent IP landscape
A 101-day agreed Federal Circuit exit in a core GUI patent dispute between two major wearables rivals is rarely coincidental.
Speed of dismissal signals a broader deal, not just litigation fatigue
Federal Circuit appeals typically run 18–24 months before disposition. A mutual 101-day exit under Rule 42(b), with each side bearing its own costs, is consistent with parties who reached a parallel commercial or licensing resolution. IP professionals monitoring Masimo-Apple wearables disputes should watch for licence filings or product-line announcements that might confirm a broader settlement.
US11106352B2 validity remains live — enforcement risk persists
Because the appeal was dismissed without a merits ruling, the patentability of US11106352B2 was never adjudicated at the Federal Circuit. Any third party competing in the GUI notification interface space — smartwatches, health monitors, mobile OS layers — cannot rely on this proceeding as prior art or estoppel. An independent FTO analysis against this patent remains essential.
Masimo v Apple — key questions answered
The Federal Circuit appeal filed by Masimo Corp. against Apple Inc. over US11106352B2 was voluntarily dismissed on 27 February 2025 under Fed. R. App. P. 42(b), just 101 days after filing. No merits ruling was issued. Each side was ordered to bear its own costs.
A Rule 42(b) voluntary dismissal at the Federal Circuit means no appellate merits ruling was issued on patentability. The validity of the challenged patent was not adjudicated. The lower-level record (PTAB or district court) remains operative, and no Federal Circuit estoppel attaches to either party from this dismissal alone.
The court order is silent on this point. It states only that the proceeding is ‘DISMISSED’ under Rule 42(b) and that each side bears its own costs. The public record does not specify whether the dismissal was with or without prejudice, leaving ambiguity about Masimo’s ability to pursue equivalent patentability challenges in future proceedings.
US11106352B2 (application US16/915971) covers devices, methods, and graphical user interfaces for accessing notifications. It is relevant to smartwatches, health monitors, and mobile platforms where notification management is a core UX feature. The patent survived this appeal without an adverse validity ruling, making it a live FTO concern for wearables OEMs developing competing notification interfaces.
The 101-day resolution is well below typical Federal Circuit timelines of 18–24 months. The mutual cost-bearing and agreed dismissal are consistent with a broader commercial or licensing arrangement reached outside the court record, though no such agreement appears in public filings. The true driver of the swift exit remains unknown from publicly available documents.
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