Apple has announced plans to stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States starting Thursday to get ahead of what could be one of the most momentous patent disputes in years.

Speaking to CNN, the company said the watches will no longer be available on Apple.com and from retail locations after December 24.

Due to a continuous disagreement with medical device manufacturer Masimo about the blood oxygen feature, the company decided to remove one of its best-selling items from the market.

Apple has consistently promoted its smartwatch as a life-saving tool, which has helped propel the device into the stratosphere and make it the most widely-sold watch globally. However, its conflict with Masimo puts that in jeopardy.

Apple was found to have violated Masimo's pulse oximeter patent in October by the US International Trade Commission.

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 Masimo's pulse oximeter uses light-based technology to measure blood oxygen levels. The ban may not take effect until President Biden has had 60 days to review the decision.

“While the review period will not end until December 25, Apple is preemptively taking steps to comply should the ruling stand,” the company said.

“Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers.”

"We will continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible," the company stated if the injunction is upheld.

Although an import restriction would affect Apple Watch Series 6 and later, as well as any units of Apple Watch Ultra imported after an upcoming review period, other models will still be available for purchase. Apple claims that it won't affect the Apple Watch SE's sales, though.

September marked the release of Apple's Series 9 phone. Because of an improved neural engine that analyses data from sensors and machine learning, it has a special S9 chip for speedier processing and allows hand gestures to operate the watch.