Alivecor, Inc. v. Apple Inc.

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

ALIVECOR, INC., No. 24-1392 D.C. No. Plaintiff - Appellant, 4:21-cv-03958-

JSW

v.

APPLE INC., OPINION

Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Jeffrey S. White, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted May 21, 2025 San Francisco, California

Filed January 8, 2026

Before: Marsha S. Berzon, Michelle T. Friedland, and Salvador Mendoza, Jr., Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Friedland ALIVECOR, INC. V. APPLE INC.

SUMMARY *

Antitrust

The panel affirmed, on different grounds, the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Apple Inc. in medical- technology company AliveCor’s antitrust action alleging monopolization in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. AliveCor created a software feature called SmartRhythm to detect episodes of atrial fibrillation using the Apple Watch. SmartRhythm relied on heart rate data that Apple calculated with an algorithm while the Watch was in the “Workout Mode” setting. The year after AliveCor created SmartRhythm, Apple…