(Reuters) -The U.S. International Trade Commission decided on Friday to hold a new proceeding to determine whether imports of Apple's ( AAPL ) updated Apple Watches should be banned as part of a patent dispute with medical monitoring technology company Masimo. 

The ITC said in an order that it would investigate whether Apple Watches that were redesigned to circumvent a previous import ban issued by the commission still infringe Masimo ( MASI ) patents covering blood-oxygen measurement technology.

The commission set a target to finish the investigation within six months. Spokespeople for Apple ( AAPL ) and Masimo ( MASI ) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is part of a contentious, multi-front patent fight between Apple ( AAPL ) and Masimo ( MASI ), an Irvine, California-based medical monitoring technology company that has accused the tech giant of hiring away its employees to steal its pulse-oximetry innovations.

The commission blocked imports of Apple's ( AAPL ) Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in 2023 after finding that Masimo's ( MASI ) patents were infringed. Apple ( AAPL ) removed blood-oxygen reading technology from its watches to avoid the ban, but reintroduced an updated version of the technology in August with approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Masimo ( MASI ) has sued Customs over the approval, while Apple ( AAPL ) has separately challenged the ITC's ban at a federal appeals court.

Masimo ( MASI ) separately sued Apple ( AAPL ) in California federal court for patent infringement and trade-secret theft. A jury in Santa Ana is now weighing Masimo's ( MASI ) allegations that Apple ( AAPL ) owes as much as $749 million in damages for infringing Masimo's ( MASI ) patents.

A California judge declared a mistrial in Masimo's ( MASI ) trade-secret case against Apple ( AAPL ) in 2023 after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Apple won a minimal $250 verdict against Masimo ( MASI ) in Delaware last year in a countersuit over allegations that Masimo's ( MASI ) smartwatches infringe two Apple ( AAPL ) design patents.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)