One day after a ban on the import and sale of its two newest Apple Watches became official, Apple managed to buy itself some time.
Shortly after the office of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai confirmed on Tuesday that the United States would not overturn the International Trade Commission ruling calling for the ban, Apple appealed the decision and submitted an emergency filing to the D.C.-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, seeking a short pause on the ban's enforcement.
The court on Wednesday granted Apple that temporary reprieve. That means Apple is allowed to resume selling Apple Watch models with blood oxygen tracking features - the Watch Ultra 2 and the Watch Series 9 - direct to consumers. The company confirmed both devices would be available for sale in Apple retail stores Wednesday, and on its website by Thursday at 12 p.m. Pacific time.
"We are pleased the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has stayed the exclusion order while it considers our request to stay the order pending our full appeal," the company said in a statement.
The court's decision is a notable win for Apple, but is far from complete. Apple has also requested a longer pause in the ban's enforcement while an appeal process plays out, citing the company's potential to "suffer irreparable harm" because of its inability to sell its "most popular" smartwatch models.
The ITC has until Jan. 10 to respond to the court about Apple's proposed prolonged pause, while filings in favor of it are due five days later.
The middle of January may prove crucial to this showdown for another reason. On Jan. 12, the exclusion order enforcement branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is scheduled to decide whether Apple's proposed redesigns of the affected wearables still infringe on blood oxygen sensor patents held by Masimo, a California-based medical monitoring company that also owns consumer audio brands like Denon and Bowers & Wilkins.
