A fortnight after Strava sued Garmin over patents tied to some of the most recognisable features in endurance tech, the fight appears to be migrating away from public theatrics and towards quieter, contractual ground. Strava has told developers it will comply with Garmin’s attribution requirements – and apply similar labels to data from other device makers. Separately, Strava has for the first time publicly confirmed plans to move ahead with an IPO.
Joe Lindsey
A Strava spokesperson confirmed the shift in a statement to Escape Collective: "Unfortunately, we aren't able to comment on ongoing disputes. While we don't agree with the extensive branding Garmin is forcing, uninterrupted connectivity for the subset of our community that uses Garmin remains our top priority, and we have also decided that we will give similar attribution to all of our device partners going forward to be fair. Our aim is to make branding as unintrusive as possible, and we believe it is the right thing to do in light of the mandatory changes that Garmin is asking all developers to implement by November 1st."
Maybe it wasn't really about the patents
All of the above follows the lawsuit, which Strava filed on September 30 in the US District Court in Colorado, accusing Garmin of infringing on patents for heatmaps, segments, leaderboards, and an alleged breach of a patent licensing agreement. Two weeks after that filing became public, it's clear that the lawsuit was less about the patents and more about something else.
Joe Lindsey
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