For those who came in late,  Apple pulled its two best Apple Watch models, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, from sale in late December in anticipation of a ban on the import and sale of the device, handed down by the ITC.

More recently, Apple was granted a stay by the United States Court of Appeals, allowing both models to return to shelves. Now, Apple is fighting for a permanent stay that would see sales allowed until the court case is resolved, and the ITC is trying to stop that.

Patent litigation expert Florian Mueller said: “The United States International Trade Commission (USITC, ITC) and complainant Masimo filed their opposition briefs to Apple’s motion for a stay pending the entire appellate proceedings.”

As Mueller notes, it’s possible Apple only needed an interim stay on the ban anyway, with a software update to get around the patent infringements likely close at hand. However, Mueller states that as far as a more permanent stay for the duration of the trial is necessary, “the ITC and Masimo make pretty much the same arguments, suggesting that Apple’s appeal is not likely to succeed.”

The filing claims Apple presents a “weak and unconvincing case” in seeking an appeal and claims Apple hasn’t shown either the merits of its case or that it will suffer huge harm as a result of the ban.

Mueller notes that if Apple does indeed come up with a good software fix for the problem, all these issues will stop being a problem.

However, that would require Apple to show some innovation, something it has lacked over recent years. The Tame Apple Press claims Jobs’ Mob working on a change that would shift how blood oxygen data is measured and shown to users, and that fix could surface as early as this week.