Earlier in the month, Strava filed a lawsuit against its longstanding partner Garmin over a patent infringement. After only 21 days, the company has unexpectedly withdrawn its lawsuit.
To bring you up to speed, Strava is accusing Garmin of infringing on two patented features. The first of these features is the segments, which allow athletes to compare their performance times on specific routes. The second is the heatmap feature, which showcases a visual representation of where users most frequently perform activities.
At the time, Strava was seeking a permanent injunction that would have stopped Garmin from selling products with these features. The company reasoned that monetary compensation would be “inadequate”.
The company never officially mentioned why it decided to drop the lawsuit. However, DC Rainmaker’s Ray Maker speculated that there are many reasons as to why, one of which is that the lawsuit never had any weight to begin with.
The YouTuber pointed out that Garmin is Strava’s closest partner and the biggest source of customer revenue for the company. DC Rainmaker then emphasised that, had Strava followed through with the lawsuit, Garmin could have cut the company off and potentially forced it to shut down. This fact was quickly demonstrated when Garmin formed a new partnership with Komoot, a Strava competitor.
DC Rainmaker then explained that Garmin has a proven track record of defending against patent infringement lawsuits over the past 10 to 15 years and perhaps can easily deal with Strava. Furthermore, Garmin has amassed a substantial collection of patents of its own, while Strava only has around 20 or so. If Garmin so chooses, the company can easily countersue and invalidate whatever patents Strava has.
This manoeuvre, both the filing of the lawsuit and then dismissing it outright, has put Strava in a difficult position. Garmin is essential to Strava’s business model, and to sue out of nowhere seems quite foolish. Only time will tell if the company will survive the consequences of its actions.
It is worth mentioning that Suunto has also filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Garmin shortly after Strava. However, whether Suunto will hold its ground or drop its lawsuit as well remains to be seen.
(Source: Android Authority, DC Rainmaker)
