An Texas company claims the Apple Watch and nearly every other smartwatch infringe on its fall detection technology patents, reports AppleInsider.
UnaliWear of Austin, Texas, in a complaint to the USITC, maintains that its fall detection patents have been infringed by:
- Apple
- Samsung Electronics
- Garmin
The complaint was filed on December 12, 2025, and added to on both December 31, 2025, and January 5, 2026. It says that the above listed companies have infringed section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which regards intellectual property rights.
The act is related to the ITC’s ability to ban the import of infringing devices, or devices that include infrigning components, into the United States. The ITC will investigate the charges, and has instructed Apple and the other companies to respond within 20 days. So far, none of the firms have commented publicly.
The complain specifies Samsung both in Korea and its US division. For Garmin, the complaint concerns three divisions worldwide.
UnaliWear, which was formed in 2013, produces and sells a range of smartwatches called the Kanega Watch, which is billed as a “Medical Alert Watch with Fall Detection.” The watches sell for $299, and there is an annual subscription attached, which runs $779.40.
Apple began offering a fall detection video in 2018, with the debut of the Apple Watch Series 4. While we don’t know for sure why UnaliWear waited until now to complain, it is possible that there had been ongoing discussions with the allegedly infringing companies until now.
While Apple and other firms have faced numerous patent challenges from patent trolls over the year, it is not the case this time, as UnaliWear is a genuine manufacturer of a device that uses the technology covered in the company’s patents.
It’s likely that UnaliWear and the named companies have a lengthy legal battle in their future, which will all come down to how a court will interpret the filed patents.
