Who patented it first? Strava wants Garmin to stop selling devices and remove features from its platform
Could the lawsuit end years of partnership between the two companies?
Image by Getty/Smith Collection/Gado
Could the lawsuit end years of partnership between the two companies?
Strava, a well-known fitness app, is suing Garmin, a sports wearables company. It demanded that the company stop selling its fitness watches and cycling computers and remove some of its features from the Garmin Connect platform.
According to Strava, Garmin infringed two patents, one related to segments and the other pertaining to heatmaps.
The company also claimed that Garmin had broken a Master Cooperation Agreement adopted in 2015, according to DC Rainmaker.
Strava now wants Garmin to stop selling devices with segment or heat mapping, which shows users popular routes. This demand is aimed at Garmin’s Connect platform and several of its devices, such as Edge bike computers, Epix, Forerunner, and Fenix smartwatches.
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What makes this decision surprising is the fact that Garmin and Strava have been in partnership for years.
Garmin rolled out segments, a feature that allows users to compare performance times, in 2014, enrolling it in Garmin’s Edge 1000 cycle computer. Strava was granted the patent for its segment feature in 2015.
During the same year, both companies signed a Master Cooperation Agreement (MCA), allowing Strava Live Segments to be featured in Garmin devices.
Now, Strava claims that the company violated the agreement by extending Garmin-developed segments outside the Strava-built experience.
While the company states that Garmin infringed two patents related to heat mapping and route suggestion features, it’s been reported that Garmin was the first to introduce heatmaps to its platform in 2013, while Strava filed the patent for heatmaps in 2014.
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