On January 12, 2026, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that it had initiated a formal investigation into companies such as Samsung Electronics, Apple, and Google to determine whether they had infringed upon the fall detection technology patent of UnaliWear, a startup company based in Texas, USA. Previously, UnaliWear accused these companies of misappropriating its technology for use in wearable devices with fall detection capabilities and their components imported and sold in the United States. ITC investigations typically take 15 to 18 months, and if infringement is found, the related products may be prohibited from being exported to the United States.
