Apple now owes $818.5 million on a patent that expired in 2022
Judge James Selna's October 5 order adds $184.2 million of interest to Masimo's $634 million jury verdict, taking Apple's bill to $818.5 million with interest still accruing until it pays. The claim now sits inside Danaher, which bought Masimo for $9.9 billion in June.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
The meter is still running
On October 5, US district judge James Selna ordered Apple+1.14% — Apple, up 1.14 percent today to pay Masimo another $184.2 million in prejudgment interest, on top of the $634 million a jury awarded over the Apple Watch's pulse oximetry 1. The bill now reads $818.5 million, and it is not final: postjudgment interest of about 4% accrues until the judgment is satisfied 12. The interest itself dates to January 2020, when Apple would have begun paying royalties had it taken a license 2.
Danaher owns the paycheck
The payday no longer belongs to Masimo's old shareholders. Danaher completed its $9.9 billion, $180-a-share cash takeover of Masimo in June, and the company now operates inside Danaher's diagnostics segment 3. The full award equals roughly 8% of the purchase price: $818.5 million on $9.9 billion 3. For Apple the number is noise: $416 billion of fiscal 2025 net sales and $112 billion of net income mean the whole judgment costs less than three days of profit 24.
The patent died in 2022, the bill did not
The invention at issue, a low-power pulse oximetry technique, expired in June 2022, so every dollar is back-pay on watches Apple sold years ago 5. The jury in that November 2025 trial set a royalty at the low end of Masimo's range, yet far above Apple's $3 million to $6 million estimate 6. Apple called the verdict staggering and argued interest would be a windfall; Selna answered with Supreme Court guidance that interest merely makes the patent holder whole, and upheld the verdict in July 15.
Receipts: $184,189,784
Both sides priced the interest and Selna picked neither number. Masimo wanted the 7% California constitution rate, worth $242.7 million 12. Apple wanted pandemic-era Treasury bill rates, worth $114.5 million 12. The judge used a calculation from Apple's own expert, Masimo's cost of borrowing compounded annually: exactly $184,189,784 2.
Selna split the interest gap: $70M above Apple's offer, $58M below Masimo's ask
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Masimo's ask, 7% rate | $242.7M |
| Selna's award | $184.2M |
| Apple's offer, T-bill rate | $114.5M |
The Masimo judgment is also no longer Apple's only court bill. On September 25 a San Diego jury awarded Taction Technology more than $5.7 billion over the vibration hardware in iPhones and Watches, though it found no willful infringement, and Apple vowed to appeal that verdict too 7.
Apple's defense is not theater
It promised an appeal the day after the November 2025 verdict 8, and it argues that of the more than 25 patents Masimo asserted across the wider war, most were later declared invalid 9. The import-ban track leans Apple's way this year: the Federal Circuit kept the 2023 ban on the original watch design in March but left the software redesign standing, a district court dismissed Masimo's attempt to reinstate the ban in April, and US Watches still ship with blood oxygen 106.
What to watch
Three things decide what this claim is worth: the Federal Circuit's handling of Apple's appeal, the 4% meter ticking under an unpaid $818.5 million, and the Supreme Court's call on Apple's petition against the ITC, filed September 3 210. Danaher carries the receivable until then. The patent expired four years ago; the interest on it has not.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
