Dr Joseph Wiesel was awarded patent 7,020,514 on March 2006, for a "Method of and apparatus for detecting atrial fibrillation”.
The originating patent allowed patients to use photoplethysmography in a non-clinical setting. The suit calls the patent "pioneering steps in atrialfibrillation detection".
Apple thought this was a clever idea to put in its watch and everyone agreed that it must have come up with the idea. After all, it comes up with all ideas eventually.
Wiesel notified Apple about his patent on September 20, 2017, following the rollout of the Apple Watch Series 3. The suit alleges that Apple refused to negotiate in good faith "even after Wiesel provided Apple detailed claim charts highlighting the elements of Wiesel's patent claims and mapping them to elements of Apple's Watch products".
The suit alleges that Apple's marketing of irregular heartbeat notifications makes the patent a "critical part of the Apple Watch" used to drive consumer demand. Furthermore, Apple's use of the technology in the Apple Watch heart study with Stanford is pointed to as an example of how critical the technology is to Apple and the Apple Watch.
However, the Tame Apple press, with its focus on the underdog of the story, point out that the patent doesn't address a watch at all, but does include discussions of devices attached to "appendages" specified as a finger in the patent, or a "cuff device" in the case of an inflating blood pressure sensor.
The '514 patent does include a discussion that there needs to be a microprocessor of some sort keeping track of time and interpreting the readings that the photoplethysmograph sensors record, though.
AppleInsider said that there was significant prior art in regards to the invention, many of which were cited by the filer - but oddly not by Appleinsider.
Without any research or evidence, it insinuates that Wiesel is just a patent troll as “it does not appear that he has been part of any teams that have developed photoplethysmograph hardware or software”.
However, even AppleInsider is forced to admit that Wiesel has a long and distinguished medical career and education and is not exactly your normal patent troll.
