Strava Sues Garmin In Bizarre Fitness Tech Legal Clash The fitness technology world is in turmoil following a surprising legal move. Strava has filed a lawsuit against Garmin, alleging patent infringement related to two core features for tracking exercise routes, segments and heatmaps. The legal complaint also claims Garmin violated a Master Cooperation Agreement by creating its own heat map feature. Strava is seeking a permanent injunction that would bar Garmin from selling any products that include these features, a move that would impact a huge portion of Garmin’s hardware lineup and its Connect software platform. This lawsuit is unexpected given the history between the two companies. Strava and Garmin are titans in the fitness tech space and have been partners for roughly ten years, with numerous integrations linking their platforms. The case is also viewed with skepticism by industry observers. DC Rainmaker, which first reported on the lawsuit, provided a detailed timeline of patent filings from both companies that strongly suggests Strava’s legal arguments may not be solid. Adding to the strangeness is the timing. By Strava’s own admission, the alleged infringements started years ago, raising questions about why the company is only acting now. The situation took an even more peculiar turn when Strava Chief Product Officer Matt Salazar posted on Reddit to explain the company’s aggressive stance against a frequent partner. According to Salazar, the legal action was triggered by new developer guidelines from Garmin for its API partners. These guidelines reportedly required the Garmin logo to be displayed on every single activity post, screen, graph, image, and sharing card. While Salazar framed this as a move to protect user data, the argument comes across to many as a complaint about Garmin branding the data collected by its own devices. This entire episode represents a bizarre and public spat between two companies that users rely on to work together seamlessly. It is a weird lawsuit, and hopefully one that will not cause any disruptions for the customers of either company.
