One of the health monitoring features that Apple introduced to its smartwatch in the recent years is an ECG monitoring tool. This is built into the watch itself and does not require that users purchase additional hardware or attachments for it to work. However, Apple was not the first to introduce a wearable version of an ECG.That honor belongs to a company called AliveCor, who actually created ECG bands that could be used with the Apple Watch. They are also now looking to seek a ban on the US import of the Apple Watch, at least that’s according to a complaint that they have filed with the US International Trade Commission.
AliveCor has been in a legal battle with Apple for a while now in which the company alleges that Apple has infringed upon their patents. In a statement made by the company, they say that the filing with the ITC “is one step, among others, AliveCor is taking to obtain relief for Apple’s intentional copying of AliveCor’s patented technology— including the ability to take an ECG reading on the Apple Watch, and to perform heartrate analysis— as well as Apple’s efforts to eliminate AliveCor as competition in the heartrate analysis market for the Apple Watch.”
Apple’s inclusion of the ECG on the Apple Watch has been praised by many for saving lives after alerting users to unusual heart rates, allowing them to seek medical attention early before something more serious happened.
Filed in . Read more about Apple Watch, Health, Legal, Smartwatch, Social Hit and Wearable Tech. Source: appleinsider