Many of Apple’s Smart Watches are off store shelves after President Biden decided not to save the product.
The White House had until the end of the day Monday to issue an emergency decision overturning the International Trade Commission‘s October ruling that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 violated patent law.
But White House rescue never came, ensuring customers would need to work harder to find the latest Apple Watches on store shelves.
Apple began removing the watches from its stores this month, with the timepieces now absent from the firm’s website and physical locations. Customers who want a Series 9 or Ultra 2 Watch will need to find it from other retailers with remaining stock, such as Best Buy and Target.
The removal of the watches concludes a lengthy and expensive legal battle for Apple. It began when the company filed two patent infringement lawsuits against health tech company Masimo in late 2022. One year later, the trade commission ruled against Apple, deciding the tech giant used technology previously patented by Masimo in the Ultra 2 and Series 9 Apple Watches.
The commission‘s ruling ensured that Apple can’t import either of the affected models.
The watches could return to Apple’s shelves, but the company would need to make significant software changes to the models.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the source of an October ruling against Apple. The ruling was made by the International Trade Commission.