In a significant legal development, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Silicon Valley startup AliveCor against tech giant Apple, alleging illegal monopolization of the U.S. market for heart rate monitoring apps for the Apple Watch.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California, ruled in favor of Apple, rejecting AliveCor’s claims that Apple violated federal antitrust laws and California’s unfair competition law. The lawsuit centered around AliveCor’s development of an app for detecting irregular heartbeats, challenging Apple’s dominance in the market for heart rate monitoring apps for its Apple Watch.
While Judge White’s reasoning for the dismissal remains under seal due to confidentiality concerns, AliveCor expressed deep disappointment with the decision and announced plans to appeal. On the other hand, Apple welcomed the court’s ruling, asserting that the lawsuit challenged its ability to innovate and improve the Apple Watch that consumers and developers rely on, emphasizing that such actions were not anti-competitive.
AliveCor’s amended complaint accused Apple of misleading it into believing there would be collaboration on heart-monitoring technology for the Apple Watch, only to allegedly copy its ideas and pursue a strategy to monopolize the market for heart rate analysis.
Central to AliveCor’s case was its development of the KardiaBand, a wristband for the Apple Watch capable of recording electrocardiograms (ECGs), along with the Kardia app for analyzing ECG readings and the SmartRhythm heart rate analysis app powered by artificial intelligence.
AliveCor also alleged that Apple updated its heart rate algorithm to hinder third parties from identifying irregular heartbeats and offering competing apps. Apple, headquartered in Cupertino, California, denied wrongdoing and argued that competitors have no authority to dictate design decisions.
Despite this setback, AliveCor continues to pursue separate patent infringement claims against Apple. The legal battle between AliveCor and Apple underscores the complexities and challenges inherent in the highly competitive wearable technology market. The case, AliveCor Inc v Apple Inc, is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California under case number 21-03958.
