There’s been a lot of chatter over the last few days about fitness app Strava[1] and Finnish smartwatch company Suunto filing separate lawsuits against Garmin[2] – and what that means for the millions of people who own one or more of the best Garmin watches[3].
We’ve broken the whole situation down below, along with the likely outcomes of this still-evolving legal quagmire.
Strava’s lawsuit and what it means for you
The Strava/Garmin suit dates back to 2011, when Strava filed the patent for what would become its Segments technology. Segments allow users to determine how well they’ve done between two points on a course, using GPS technology to provide data on the user traveling between those points.
The patent was eventually granted in 2015, but Garmin pipped Strava to the post, releasing its own segments feature in 2014 on the Edge 1000 cycling computer. Since then, Garmin and Strava collaborated on a Master Cooperation Agreement to put Strava Live Segments on Garmin devices, and the two have worked together closely for a decade.
Now, Strava has filed three counts of patent infringement against Garmin and one for breach of contract, as disclosed by GarminRumors[4] – apparently for violating this agreement.
Section 55 of the lawsuit states: “Garmin expanded well beyond that agreement’s scope. Garmin built, branded, and widely deployed Garmin‑branded segments outside the Strava‑built experience and to non‑Strava users; enabled segment competition and leaderboards across Garmin Connect (web and mobile) and on devices; and surfaced segment results independent of the Exhibit A constraints.”
Strava has now decided to take action on a long-simmering issue between the pair, notwithstanding how closely Strava and Garmin have been working together on the feature.
The other two counts of patent infringement refer to heatmaps, and how other user’s routes are recommended and shown to you in the Garmin and Strava apps. This patent, filed in 2016 under the title ‘Generating user preference activity maps’ and granted in 2017, has (according to the lawsuit) allegedly been flouted by Garmin “as of July 25, 2025”.
Strava has requested the court award damages, and order Garmin to permanently cease the sale of watches with the infringing technology.
That’s the main concern for users: that Garmin watches won’t be sold until the legal situation is resolved, or that Garmin will be forced to remove features from its watches, via a software update as Apple[5] was with its blood oxygen sensor. We’ll know more for sure in the next few days.
A revealing Reddit post
Setting the record straight about Garmin from r/Strava[6][7]
That all sounds relatively straightforward, but another issue has surfaced that might explain why Strava has chosen to weaponize this long-gestating issue now.
Strava’s chief product officer Matt Salazar took to the Strava subreddit[8] on Friday, October 3 to address an issue with Garmin’s API, or application programming interface. Garmin wants to display its logo when its data is shared to third-party services, including Strava, and is reportedly threatening to withdraw from those services if it’s unable to do so.
Salazar wrote: “We already provide attribution for every data partner, but Garmin wants to use Strava and every other partner as an advertising platform – they told us they care more about their marketing than your user experience. We consider this to be YOUR data.”
It seems like the timing of this is not coincidental. Garmin has presented Strava with an ultimatum, so Strava is firing back, trying to drum up support in the Strava community and introduding a seemingly-unrelated patent dispute.
Unfortunately for Strava, the Reddit post backfired. Reddit users were quick to point out the hypocrisy, as Strava displays its own logo when sharing data to other apps, and has taken my-way-or-the-highway approaches with third-party apps before.
“I don’t believe for a second you’re doing this to stand up for us and our data and our user experience, and nobody else is buying it either,” said one poster.
“As a premium (paid) Strava member I want to be clear that Strava’s only of use to me if works with Garmin. The moment Strava no longer syncs with Garmin connect is the last time I open Strava.” said another.
At the time of writing, the post has 0 upvotes and over 1,300 comments. Oof.
What about Suunto?
It seems that Suunto has smelled blood in the water and wants to join the feeding frenzy, hitting Garmin with a lawsuit of its own in which it claims Garmin has infringed on at least five Suunto-filed patents.
These include patents on golf watches, such as a wrist-operated computer that can detect a strike event and determine a ball’s position using GPS; an energy-efficient method of using heart rate sensor data to determine a wearer’s respiratory rate; and an antenna assembly technology that also allows incorporation of additional metal components without interfering with signal or reception.
Suunto names a lot of watches, including the Fenix, Forerunner, Venu, Instinct and Epix ranges. It even goes after the ultra-premium MARQ ranges, such as the Garmin MARQ Golfer Gen 2[9], which we recently awarded five stars in our review.
Suunto is seeking damages from Garmin due to potential loss of income, but not demanding that it halt of sale of these watches – a relief to those looking for Amazon Big Deal Days[10] discounts on the likes of the Garmin Fenix 8[11]. Even if Suunto’s case is upheld, you’ll still be able to get hold of a Garmin.
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References
- ^ fitness app Strava (www.techradar.com)
- ^ Garmin (www.techradar.com)
- ^ best Garmin watches (www.techradar.com)
- ^ three counts of patent infringement against Garmin and one for breach of contract, as disclosed by GarminRumors (garminrumors.com)
- ^ Apple (www.techradar.com)
- ^ Setting the record straight about Garmin (www.reddit.com)
- ^ r/Strava (www.reddit.com)
- ^ Strava subreddit (www.reddit.com)
- ^ Garmin MARQ Golfer Gen 2 (www.techradar.com)
- ^ Amazon Big Deal Days (www.techradar.com)
- ^ Garmin Fenix 8 (www.techradar.com)