Strava and Garmin are two names that are quite intertwined in the world of sports and health. Strava is well-known for its sports activity tracking apps, while Garmin is better known for its activity tracking devices.
The suit, filed in a Colorado court, seems to want Garmin to stop selling most of its activity tracking devices while also claiming that Garmin has infringed on several of Strava's patents.
Strava claims that Garmin has infringed on the company's patents by introducing the segments function; a function where Strava app users can compare their running performance on certain sections of the road with other runners.
This also includes the heatmaps function which allows Strava users to run in locations that are popular among the app's users. The patent for the segments feature was filed in 2011 and granted to Strava in 2015, while the heatmaps feature was filed in 2014 and granted in 2016.
What’s interesting about this lawsuit is that Strava says that not only is the monetary compensation insufficient, but they want to ensure that Garmin is not allowed to sell their activity tracking products, including but not limited to the Forerunner, Fenix, and Epix models.
While the two companies have a previous understanding on the use of technology between the two platforms, Strava says that one of the biggest issues with Garmin is that they have taken the segments feature and added new functionality that Strava did not develop.
This is seen as quite serious for Strava not only because it is using the company’s patented technology without permission, but also because it has developed a feature on Garmin’s platform that is seen as a competing application to them.
Interestingly, the features that Strava has patented are said to have been used by Garmin as early as 2011 before Strava's patent was filed. It is currently unknown what next steps Garmin will take regarding this lawsuit.