Press release
Federal Court Rules for Masimo in Suit Against Former Engineer for Unlawful Theft of Company’s Pulse Oximeter Trade Secrets
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The United States District Court for the Central District of California has ruled that a former Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI)
About this update from Masimo Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":" IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nThe United States District Court for the Central District of California has ruled that a former Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) engineer misappropriated trade secrets related to Masimo’s pulse oximetry technology. The former Masimo engineer, Marcelo Lamego, also served as Chief Technical Officer at Cercacor, a Masimo spinoff which owns certain license rights to many Masimo patents. Lamego left Cercacor in 2014 to work at Apple and later launched his own company, True Wearables, which created a wireless, wearable pulse oximeter device.\n\nIn the ruling, the District Court found that Dr. Lamego stole multiple Masimo trade secrets, breached his fiduciary duty of loyalty to Cercacor, and violated his employment agreements by keeping confidential information and documents. The Court ordered Lamego to abandon at least twelve patent applications containing Masimo’s trade secrets and to return all confidential information and documents.\n\nThe Court has also permanently enjoined the sale of the True Wearables pulse oximeter because the Masimo trade secrets were foundational to its health sensing features.\n\n“This ruling will give comfort to companies that invest in innovation, by confirming that California’s trade secrets laws will help protect their investments from employees who seek to unlawfully use those innovations for their own benefit,” said Tom McClenahan, Masimo’s General Counsel.\n\nMasimo has a separate lawsuit pending against Apple, which is currently set for trial in March 2023, alleging that Apple, through Lamego and other former Masimo employees, misappropriated Masimo’s trade secrets in developing certain physiological monitoring features of the Apple Watch.\n\n@Masimo | #Masimo\n\nAbout Masimo\n\nMasimo (NASDAQ: MASI) is a global medical technology company that develops and produces a wide array of industry-leading monitoring technologies, including innovative measurements, sensors, patient monitors, and automation and connectivity solutions. In addition, Masimo is home to eight legendary audio brands, including Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, Marantz, and Polk Audio. Our mission is to improve life, improve patient outcomes, and reduce the cost of care. Masimo SET® Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion™ pulse oximetry, introduced in 1995, has been shown in over 100 independent and objective studi...