Apple Inc. and Masimo Corp. failed to persuade a jury to reach a unanimous verdict in a trial where the medical-devices company claimed a blood-oxygen sensor in the Apple Watch was developed using misappropriated trade secrets.
“We’re not going to be able to come to a joint conclusion,” the all-female panel wrote in its final note to the judge. Earlier, the jury said six of its members voted for Apple and one for Masimo, and she refused to change her mind. US District Judge James Selna declared a mistrial late Monday afternoon.
Masimo shares dropped as much as 5.3% in after-hours trading after the jurors reported their vote before rebounding when the mistrial was declared.
“While we are disappointed that the jury was unable to reach a verdict, we intend to retry the case and continue to pursue legal redress against Apple,” Masimo said in a statement.
Apple poached Masimo and Cercacor employees to learn about its technology after Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook nixed an internal proposal to buy the company, Masimo’s lawyer, Joseph Re, told the jury in closing arguments.
Apple responded by brining forward numerous employees who had worked on the sensor project, all of whom told the jury during the three-week trial that Masimo’s technology wasn’t used in the development.
After the mistrial was declared Apple thanked the jury in a statement.
Masimo previewed the next steps in its statement.
The 3 1/3 days of jury deliberations were marked by emotion.
A single mother with a temporary job, earning about $25,000 a year, was excused Friday after telling the judge she couldn’t afford to spend another week deliberating because she wasn’t being paid for her time on the jury.
“It was boring,” she replied. “It was like being in school again.”
(Updates with shares in fifth paragraph.)
–With assistance from Mark Gurman.
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