When I became CEO of AliveCor, a health tech startup focused on heart health, I knew I would spend years fighting in court to protect intellectual property from one of the world’s largest companies. I hardly expected it. But our David vs. Goliath battle with Apple has made it all the way to President Joe Biden’s desk, and now to the Capitol.
Some people ask me why Apple doesn’t give up when it has so much money and a well-documented history of copying other companies’ ideas.as washington post It was once reported that “some apps can no longer withstand the pressure.”
But this is not just our problem. It concerns the entire technology ecosystem. The question is whether startups and small businesses of all kinds can stake their claim and win. And because we have a particular focus on health technology, it’s no exaggeration to say that lives depend on the technology that companies like ours develop.
The details of this incident are as follows. AliveCor is a pioneer in electrocardiogram technology (ECG) for smartphones and smartwatches. In 2016, he launched his KardiaBand, an FDA-approved medical-grade wearable ECG. The response has been amazing, with people saying it has helped them transform their health and lives. But he announced two years later that Apple had developed its own technology and its new watch was no longer compatible with the core features of his KardiaBand.
We fought back with patents, scientific reports, and other evidence. Since then, Apple has tried all kinds of tricks to fend us off, including a series of expensive lawsuits. Nevertheless, we have achieved victories before the International Trade Commission (ITC). The agency’s role includes investigating and making decisions regarding intellectual property (IP) rights in such cases.
The ITC found that Apple violated the intellectual property rights protecting the company’s critical heart monitoring technology. As a result, the Commission ultimately required Apple to ban the importation of infringing watches into the United States. Big companies tried to get President Biden to veto that ban, but fortunately, President Biden refused.
We are not alone in these battles. Another medical technology company, Masimo, has fought a similar battle and won in front of ITC. Once again, Biden refused to veto the Apple Watch import ban.
But rather than trying to correct its own mistakes, Apple is using its lobbying power to change the ITC. The company has lobbied Congress to “disqualify some patent owners from filing complaints with the ITC,” and has “improved the language of committee reports that could affect the level of penalties imposed by the ITC.” Seeking to make an impact.
Apple is also trying another desperate last effort. This resulted in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Board of Patent Trial and Appeals invalidating portions of our patents, but we are confident that the decision will be reversed on appeal.
Apple is trying to argue that the ITC’s ban on Apple Watch imports deprives people of a device essential to their health. However, the commission previously rejected this argument as inaccurate. In fact the opposite is true. Allowing Apple to get away with continued infringement will kill innovation and put people’s health at risk.
Health tech startups rely on funding from investors to save lives. People are willing to invest in these new ideas because they expect some of them to be successful, and because they can expect a return on their investment and future returns.
If large companies can easily copy these technologies, investors will lose confidence and motivation to fund them at various stages. Investors and small business leaders need to know that the rules protect David as fairly and reliably as they protect Goliath.
Our battle with Apple has always been on an uneven field. Things would only get worse if Congress intervened on Apple’s behalf. President Biden has stood up to Apple’s bullying tactics, and Congress should do the same.
Priya Abani is the CEO of AliveCor.
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