Islam v. Apple

Apple will have to defend a patent infringement case regarding its Apple Watch technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the employment agreement between professor Mohammed Islam and the University of Michigan did not automatically assign any patents Islam received to the school. Therefore, Apple’s contention that his company, Omni MedSci Inc, lacked standing, was rejected in a split ruling by a three-judge panel. Omni sued Apple in 2018, alleging the Apple Watch’s ability to measure heart rates infringed four of its patents. Islam says he discussed licensing the technology with Apple representatives several times before the company allegedly copied it. The university also argued in a friend-of-the-court brief that it owned the patents. The case is Omni MedSci Inc v. Apple Inc, but Islam v. Apple makes a better headline.