Adidas and adidas America filed a lawsuit against Asics America in Delaware federal court last week pursuing damages and royalties for infringements on 10 fitness tracker and fitness tracker-related software patents.
Named alongside Asics in the suit is FitnessKeeper, a Boston-based technology company behind the popular application, RunKeeper. Asics acquired FitnessKeeper in 2016 for $85 million, and its RunKeeper app currently boasts 33 million users worldwide.
Claims at the root of the suit stem from options within the RunKeeper app that involve GPS, as well as other wearables, and social networking features. Adidas claims it was the first company on the market to begin to make the connection between analytics and athletes.
“In its efforts to innovate sports and change the game through technology, adidas has made continuous investments in sports science, sensor technology, wearables and digital communication platforms,” the complaint said. “Adidas was the first in the industry to comprehensively bring data analytics to athletes.”
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
Allegations in adidas’ complaint call out features within the RunKeeper app that lean on GPS services to tailor a customized audio experience for athletes based on their location. Other infringements are based on software infrastructures that relay data tracked by wearables back to fitness applications.
Adidas’ legal action against Asics and FitnessKeeper closely resembles a 2014 lawsuit that adidas filed against Under Armour and MapMyFitness, a fitness mapping application. The two sides settled out of court with Under Armour agreeing to pay adidas licensing fees moving forward.
In the complaint, Adidas suggests Asics should have been aware of at least some of the alleged infringements due to the publicity and nature of the 2014 Under Armour case.
Three patents mentioned in the Asics complaint were also mentioned in adidas’ previous suit with Under Armour.
“Innovation is at the heart of who we are at Adidas,” company spokeswoman Lauren Lamkin told Law360 in an email. “We’ll continue to vigorously protect our innovations.”