Strava sues Garmin over key fitness features you probably rely on

Even the strongest partnerships face challenges occasionally, and that’s certainly the case with two fitness industry giants. Fitness platform Strava is suing hardware maker and one of its biggest partners, Garmin, over alleged patent infringements. Strava also wants Garmin to stop selling products that may utilize these patents, which would include a slew of its fitness watches, cycling computers, and the Garmin Connect app.

The lawsuit, first reported by fitness industry veteran DC Rainmaker, focuses on two primary features utilized by both companies: segments and heatmaps. Segments allow users to compete against others and themselves within sections of a given route. Breaking down longer routes encourages users to hit more manageable targets across a more extended training session or race. Heatmaps, meanwhile, display areas and routes that users traffic heavily, effectively highlighting popular training areas. This is an excellent feature for those seeking regular and safe cycling or running routes, or simply as a social feature.

Although these patents seemingly are the backbone of Strava’s litigation, anger towards Garmin stems from several sources.

Strava filed a patent for segments in 2011, which was awarded in 2015. As for heatmaps, it filed two related patents, one in 2014, granted two years later, and another in 2016, granted in 2017. Interestingly, Garmin’s first device offering its segment feature arrived in 2014, while it rolled out heatmap smarts to its products even earlier — in 2013.

Garmin and Strava signed an agreement in 2015 that brought Strava’s Live Segments feature to Garmin’s hardware and software. However, Strava believes that Garmin has breached this agreement’s limits and has developed its own products based on this framework.

According to a newer statement by Strava CPO Matt Salazar on Reddit, the company is also taking issue with Garmin’s forthcoming API guidelines, which demand the inclusion of Garmin’s logo on products that utilize its API.

Strava is ultimately claiming that Garmin’s alleged breach of its patents and agreements has led to financial losses and believes that it’s “entitled to a permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants [Garmin – ed] from making, using, offering to sell, selling, or importing the accused implementations (and any colorable variations) of the patented technology.”

Garmin, in a statement to DC Rainmaker, refused to offer comments on the litigation.

As a former user of both companies’ products, I feel this is a strange move for Strava, which heavily relies on Garmin’s products. Forbidding one of its effective partners from selling its products would likely affect its own user base and alienate its existing users. There’s also the question of dwindling goodwill among the Strava userbase.

As mentioned above, the statement published on Reddit includes comments from several disgruntled Strava users, who don’t believe the company has a leg to stand on. “I want to be clear that Strava’s only of use to me if [it – ed] works with Garmin,” one Redditor wrote. “If I have to choose between Garmin and Strava Garmin will win every time,” penned another.

Ultimately, Strava’s end goal isn’t immediately clear. The move may be related to Strava’s future IPO plans, with the company taking a more staunch stance against companies apparently using technology it developed. However, it’s still far too early to understand the ramifications for both companies and, more importantly, their users.