Apple scored a victory on Wednesday when a U.S. appeals court paused a government commission's import ban on some of the company's popular Apple smartwatches following a patent dispute with medical-technology firm Masimo.

The tech giant had filed an emergency request asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to halt the order after appealing the U.S. International Trade Commission's (ITC) decision that it had infringed Masimo's patents.

"This is a big win for Apple that was unexpected by many given the legal issues involved in this patent battle," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said. "Masimo now has a big fight ahead. We expect an appeals case in January to be a big moment."

In a four-paragraph ruling, the appeals court said it would halt the ban while it considers Apple's motion for a longer-term pause during the appeals process. The court gave the ITC until Jan. 10 to respond to Apple's request.

On Tuesday, Apple told the court that U.S. Customs and Border Protection is considering whether redesigned versions of its watches infringe Masimo's patents and can be imported. The customs agency has set a target date of Jan. 12 for its decision, Apple said. For more, read the full CTV report.

A jury trial on Masimo's allegations against Apple in California federal court ended with a mistrial in May. Apple has separately sued Masimo for patent infringement in federal court in Delaware and called Masimo's legal actions a "maneuver to clear a path" for its own competing smartwatch. Patently Apple covered two of Apple's lawsuits against Masimo here: 01 and 02.