A long-awaited, two-year lawsuit between, Under Armour and Adidas has ended over the MapMyFitness application and multiple fitness patent infringements.
The suit between Adidas and Under Armour was filed in February 2014, when Adidas noticed a similarity with its patents and Under Armour’s new fitness technology. Adidas said the infringed patents were that of, “a location-aware fitness training device, methods … and computer program products for providing information about a user during physical activity,” according to Forbes.
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Adidas began the process later that month in Delaware’s US District Court over the infringement of 10 digital health-related patents. Included in the lawsuit was the MapMyFitness app, which infringements were listed as, “an application that relays individualized data while the user is physically active to a mobile device.”
Those infringement claims have been settled upon after Adidas agreed to grant Under Armour a license to claim MapMyFitness, and use Adidas’ patents for an undisclosed price.
Soul music icon, Edwin Starr, would have had something to say regarding the “war” between these two multibillion dollar companies. You know, “War! What is it good for?” In this situation Edwin, absolutely something, say it again.
That something is millions to be exact.
Adidas also brought to attention Under Armour’s current Director of Innovation and Research (who held the same position on Adidas’ staff) due to the knowledge he had of Adidas’ patent infringement guidelines and regulations.
Lawsuits are filed against big-named brands often. A lawsuit of this type is run-of-the-mill, but there have been bizarre cases.
For example, in 2013, brand competitor, Nike, was sued by Portland-area pimp, Sirgiorgiro Clardy. He claimed that Nike should have placed a warning label on its Air Jordan shoes that informed customers the shoes could be used as a “dangerous weapon”. Clardy was wearing the shoes when he repeatedly stomped the face of a man who was trying to leave a Portland hotel without paying one of Clardy’s prostitutes.
Sounds like a scene straight out of American History X. Cover your eyes kids!
The lawsuit between Adidas and Under Armour is like finding the coaching wristband of the opposing high school football team while heading into the locker room for halftime. It has all their plays, you’re down seven and it’s the playoffs, do you use it?
Adidas believed Under Armour would have.
Since 2014, Under Armour has greatly increased its digital health sphere by acquiring other fitness applications; MyFitnessPal and Endomondo. In 2015, Under Armour also obtained Gritness, which is an up-and-coming application that searches for open, joinable fitness workouts happening near your location.
Could the lawsuit have been avoided all together by instead settling on a non-compete clause due to the similarities in MapMyFitness and Adidas’ patents? Possibly, but Adidas took a different route.
Adidas had been taking this route for some time.
It has aggressively pursued those companies believed to be infringing its patents across the fitness world. Adidas attempted to sue well-known fitness tracking company, Fitbit, but the infringements were ruled as invalid.
Although the lawsuit between Under Armour and Adidas have been resolved, this is not a conclusive gentlemen’s agreement between the two colliding companies. For now, I imagine you can faintly hear, “Why can’t we be friends?” playing through their playlists.