Apple Watch ban is a cherry on top of Cook’s miserable year

Barring a last minute (and unlikely) presidential veto, the Apple Watch is largely coming off US shelves. Starting Thursday, Apple Inc. will stop selling the latest versions of the device through its online store and then in its physical stores, too, by Christmas Eve. Other sellers like Best Buy can continue to sell them until they are out of stock. It’s a miserable end to a lackluster year for America’s most valuable company and its chief executive officer, Tim Cook.

Apple has found itself on the losing side of a patent dispute with a US medical technology company, Masimo Corp., which accused the tech giant of infringing patents related to its blood-oxygen sensors.