---
title: "Apple now owes $818.5 million on a patent that expired in 2022"
description: "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."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Money"
published: 2026-10-09T00:28:33.449Z
modified: 2026-10-09T00:28:33.449Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/apple-now-owes-818-5-million-on-a-patent-that-expired-in-2022
language: en
keywords: "Apple, Masimo, Danaher, Patents, Litigation"
---

# 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.

## The meter is still running

On October 5, US district judge James Selna ordered [Apple](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/apple) to pay Masimo another [$184.2 million in prejudgment interest](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/apple-ordered-pay-masimo-184m-140000367.html), 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 [1][2]. 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](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/danaher-boosts-product-portfolio-with-the-acquisition-of-masimo/ar-AA25uH6l) 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](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000320193) mean the whole judgment costs less than three days of profit [2][4].

## The patent died in 2022, the bill did not

The invention at issue, a low-power pulse oximetry technique, [expired in June 2022](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/10/06/apple-watch-patent-bill-just-got-bigger/), 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 [1][5].

![The optical sensor arrays on the backs of Apple Watch Series 3, 5 and 6](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/941a74cdc57bc4ac.jpg)

*The sensor arrays on the backs of Apple Watch Series 3, 5 and 6. The patent covering the pulse oximetry technique expired in June 2022, so every dollar of the award is back-pay on watches sold years ago. (Mliu92 via Wikimedia Commons)*

## 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 [1][2]. Apple wanted pandemic-era Treasury bill rates, worth $114.5 million [1][2]. The judge used a calculation from Apple's own expert, Masimo's cost of borrowing compounded annually: [exactly $184,189,784](https://www.massdevice.com/apple-must-pay-an-extra-184m-to-masimo-judge-says/) [2].

*Chart: **Selna split the interest gap: $70M above Apple's offer, $58M below Masimo's ask** Bar chart of prejudgment interest on the Masimo verdict: Masimo's 7% ask $242.7M, Judge Selna's award $184.2M, Apple's Treasury-bill offer $114.5M*

*Prejudgment interest on the $634M verdict, accruing from January 2020 under Judge Selna's October 5, 2026, order, in millions of dollars. Sources: MedTech Dive, MassDevice. [1][2]*

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](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/26/apple-taction-technology-patent-infringement-verdict.html) 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 [10][6].

## 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](https://patentlyo.com/patent/2026/09/when-rd-counts-as-a-domestic-industry.html) [2][10]. Danaher carries the receivable until then. The patent expired four years ago; the interest on it has not.

## Takeaway

Apple owes $818.5 million and counting on a pulse oximetry patent that expired in 2022, Selna picked the interest rate out of Apple's own expert, and the claim now sits inside Danaher with appeals still to run.

## Sources

1. [MedTech Dive via Yahoo Finance, Apple ordered to pay Masimo $184M in interest on patent damages, 7 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/apple-ordered-pay-masimo-184m-140000367.html)
2. [MassDevice, Apple must pay an extra $184M to Masimo, judge says, 8 October 2026](https://www.massdevice.com/apple-must-pay-an-extra-184m-to-masimo-judge-says/)
3. [Zacks via MSN, Danaher boosts product portfolio with the acquisition of Masimo, 12 June 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/danaher-boosts-product-portfolio-with-the-acquisition-of-masimo/ar-AA25uH6l)
4. [Apple, annual figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 8 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000320193)
5. [MacRumors, Apple's $634 Million Apple Watch Patent Bill Just Got Even Bigger, 6 October 2026](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/10/06/apple-watch-patent-bill-just-got-bigger/)
6. [AppleInsider, Interest is making Apple's payout to Masimo much larger, 6 October 2026](https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/10/06/interest-is-making-apples-payout-to-masimo-much-larger)
7. [CNBC, Apple faces $5.7 billion patent infringement verdict over iPhone and Apple Watch haptics, 26 September 2026](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/26/apple-taction-technology-patent-infringement-verdict.html)
8. [Times of India via MSN, Apple ordered to pay Masimo $634 million in smartwatch patent case, iPhone maker 'disagrees', 15 November 2025](https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/general/apple-ordered-to-pay-masimo-634-million-in-smartwatch-patent-case-iphone-maker-disagrees/ar-AA1Qup40)
9. [Notebookcheck, Apple Watch: Masimo patent dispute now costs Apple $818 million, 7 October 2026](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-Watch-Masimo-patent-dispute-now-costs-Apple-818-million.1418338.0.html)
10. [Patently-O, When R&D Counts as a Domestic Industry, 14 September 2026](https://patentlyo.com/patent/2026/09/when-rd-counts-as-a-domestic-industry.html)


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Apple now owes $818.5 million on a patent that expired in 2022 — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/apple-now-owes-818-5-million-on-a-patent-that-expired-in-2022