Two of the biggest names in fitness tracking are beefing: Fitness app Strava has filed a lawsuit against Garmin, demanding that the device manufacturer cease selling effectively all of its fitness watches and cycling computers. The suit claims patent infringement on two core features—segments and heatmaps—and alleges that Garmin violated a decade-old cooperation agreement between the two companies.
At first glance, Strava's lawsuit centers on two main patent claims. The first involves heatmaps and popularity routing, covered by patents filed in December 2014 and issued in 2016. These patents describe technology for generating maps that show where users work out based on aggregated GPS data from multiple users. This first claim is pretty clear-cut, but before diving into that, know that the second patent focuses on a different signature feature: segments. This patent, filed in March 2011 and granted in August 2015, covers the concept of user-defined route segments where athletes can compete for best times using GPS data.
For more context, the timing of this suit comes on the heels of recent friction between the companies. In 2024, Strava implemented controversial API changes that disrupted many third-party fitness apps. Around the same time, Garmin began requiring API partners to provide attribution for data sourced from Garmin Connect—a policy Strava reportedly resisted.
What sparked the lawsuit now?
In a Reddit post addressing the Strava community this afternoon, Salazar revealed that on July 1, Garmin announced new developer guidelines requiring its logo to appear "on every single activity post, screen, graph, image, sharing card etc." for all API partners, including Strava. The deadline for compliance: November 1. The consequence for refusal: Garmin would cut off API access, preventing all Garmin activities from uploading to Strava.
Salazar emphasized that Strava views this as fundamentally about user data ownership: "If you recorded an activity on your watch, we think that is your data. We believe you should be able to freely transfer or upload that data without requiring logos to be displayed alongside it or have that data be used as an advertisement to sell more watches."
The good news for athletes: Your devices and data should be fine, at least for now. When asked about user impact, Strava stated that "our lawsuit is between two companies; we do not intend to take any actions that would disrupt the ability of Garmin users to sync their data with Strava."
"The fact that they got a patent for it is a testament to how messy software patents have been over the years," DC Rainmaker observes. He suggests that Garmin's lawyers will "easily argue this patent shouldn't have been granted and get it invalidated," drawing parallels to a similar case where Wahoo sued Zwift and quickly dropped the suit after a judge questioned the validity of their patents.
The bottom line
Garmin's position, as outlined in their July 2025 API Brand Guidelines, is that data attribution is standard practice across the industry—similar to what Google Maps and other platforms require. The guidelines give developers until the end of 2025 to comply, with Garmin noting flexibility on timelines. From Garmin's perspective, they're simply asking for the same attribution treatment that Strava demands from its own API partners.
For now, users of both platforms can continue using their devices and syncing data as usual. But the lawsuit highlights growing tensions in the fitness tech ecosystem as companies increasingly compete not just for users, but for control over all the data and features that athletes have come to rely on.
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