Strava has initiated legal action against Garmin in the U.S. District Court of Colorado on September 30, alleging that Garmin has breached an agreement by infringing on Strava’s patents related to segments—specific route sections for performance comparisons—and heatmaps that indicate popular activity areas. Strava is pursuing a permanent injunction to prevent Garmin from selling or offering products that feature segments or heat mapping, asserting that monetary compensation is insufficient. The targets of this lawsuit include Garmin’s Connect fitness tracking platform and several devices, such as Edge bike computers and Forerunner, Fenix, and Epix watches.
The lawsuit has raised questions due to the longstanding partnership between Strava and Garmin, which have previously integrated their platforms. A recent report from Strava identified Garmin’s Forerunner 235 as the most popular smartwatch among its users, highlighting the close ties between the two brands.
The patent for Strava’s segments feature was filed in 2011 and granted in 2015. Garmin introduced its own segment system with the Edge 1000 cycle computer in 2014 and subsequently signed a Master Cooperation Agreement (MCA) in 2015 to incorporate Strava Live Segments into Garmin devices. Strava claims that Garmin expanded its branded segments beyond the original agreement, utilizing Strava’s patented technology to create a competing system.
Additionally, Strava asserts that Garmin’s heat mapping features infringe on two more patents: one for activity heatmaps, filed in 2014 and granted in 2016, and another for popularity-based routing, filed in 2016 and granted in 2017. Notably, Garmin had introduced heatmaps to its Connect platform in 2013 prior to Strava’s patent filings.
According to a Strava spokesperson, the company attempted to resolve these issues informally before resorting to legal action. Garmin has not yet publicly commented on the lawsuit.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/790922/strava-garmin-patent-infringement-lawsuit