WASHINGTON: A federal jury in California said on Friday that Apple owes medical-monitoring technology company Masimo $634 million for infringing a patent covering blood-oxygen reading technology.

The jury agreed with Masimo that the Apple Watch`s workout mode and heart rate notification features violated Masimo`s patent rights, a Masimo spokesperson confirmed.

An Apple spokesperson said that the company disagrees with the verdict and will appeal.

`Over the past six years, Masimo has sued Apple in multiple courts and asserted over 25 patents, the majority of which have been found to be invalid, the spokesperson said.

`The single patent in this case expired in 2022, and is specific to historic patient monitoring technology from decades ago.

Masimo, in a statement,called the verdict `a significant win in our ongoing efforts to protect our innovations and intellectual property.` The California lawsuit is one branch of a contentious, multi-front patent fight between Apple and Irvine, California-based Masimo, which has accused Apple of hiring away its employees and stealing its pulse oximetry technology to use in Apple Watches.

The dispute led a U.S.

trade tribunal to block imports of Apple`s Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023 after finding that Apple`stechnologyinfringed Masimo`s patents.

Apple removed bloodoxygen reading technology from its watches to avoid the ban and reintroduced an updated version of the technology in August with approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.Reuters