Garmin’s legal woes are mounting. Just days after Strava filed a lawsuit accusing Garmin of patent infringements over its heatmaps and segment features, Suunto has launched its own action – claiming Garmin has infringed multiple patents covering core smartwatch technology.
According to Suunto, Garmin allegedly infringed five different patents relating to respiratory rate tracking, antenna design, watch casing, and golf swing tracking. The company also claims that some of Garmin’s watches – many of which appear on our best smart watch list – use these patented technologies without permission.
As such, Suunto is seeking damages and a permanent injunction to stop Garmin from selling these watches.
This is oddly similar to the Strava lawsuit. In documents filed on September 30 in Colorado, Strava alleges Garmin has infringed three patents – two around heatmaps and one around segments, arguing that Garmin breached a 2015 Master Cooperation Agreement between the two companies to develop this technology. Like Suunto, Strava is also seeking damages and a permanent injunction.
Strava has since said that the action against lawsuit was in response to Garmin’s “new developer guidelines for its API partners“, which reportedly required the Garmin logo to be present on every single activity post. Matt Salazar, Strava’s chief product officer, says Garmin has threatened to cut off access to its API if developers do not comply, which would in effect stop all Garmin activities being uploaded to Strava.
Opinion
This double blow could spell serious trouble for Garmin. With two major players now taking legal action, the company finds itself under mounting pressure. It’ll be interesting to see what Garmin’s defence will be and whether other brands follow suit.
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