Strava is suing Garmin over alleged patent infringements

It’s always awkward when two of your close friends start to fight. For the fitness-minded, Strava and Garmin are what you might call close friends. And yes, they just got into a fight. In an odd change of heart, Strava is suing Garmin for alleged patent infringement.

The fitness segment in tech has one of the most tight-knit collections of companies. Despite how many of them there are, it’s highly likely that one will work with the other. Strava, for example, works well with Garmin’s smartwatches. The two giants were formerly adamant about working together.

Now, the situation has mysteriously changed. Strava is suing Garmin over patent infringements involving the latter’s segments and heatmaps features. The case also alleges that Garmin violated a Master Cooperation Agreement when the company developed its own heatmap technology.

For compensation, Strava is asking the courts to stop Garmin from selling any of its smartwatches which include the infringing features. That’s pretty concerning when most of Garmin’s devices have those features.

According to an official post on Reddit, the proverbial straw the broke the camel’s back is Garmin’s new policies. Partnered software must now include Garmin’s logo in activity posts. Otherwise, Garmin will reportedly revoke access to its API.

Curiously, as some commenters pointed out, Strava has done the same thing in the past. And, according to DC Rainmaker, who first spotted the case, Garmin doesn’t, in fact, require the logo.

It’s still up in the air whether the litigation will result into anything substantial. However, speculation says that Strava might eventually drop the case since Garmin can definitely retaliate.

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