Apple sued by New York doctor over Watch’s heart technology

A New York University cardiologist claims Apple Inc.’s Watch uses his patented heartbeat-monitoring invention and he wants compensation.

Dr. Joseph Wiesel, who teaches at NYU School of Medicine, filed a suit Friday against the tech giant, in federal court in Brooklyn. Wiesel claims the Apple Watch infringes his patent for a method to detect an irregular heartbeat.

Apple promotes a feature in the watch that can measure the wearer’s heart rate and can provide notifications of an irregular pulse. The Wearables segment, which includes the Apple Watch, Apple TV and Beats headphones, is the company’s fastest-growing category and generated more than US$24 billion in sales in the fiscal year that ended in September.