On Thursday April 29th, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) invalidated a number of Jawbone patents, which have been the subject of the ongoing legal dispute between Fitbit and Jawbone.
The official court filing states that the claims in certain Jawbone patents “seek a monopoly on the abstract ideas of collecting and monitoring sleep and other health-related data,” and are therefore ineligible. The ITC stated that “No innovating concept is claimed in either patent. Specifically with respect to systems for organizing human activity, the courts have determined that a patent is not eligible when it claims the use of computer technology to accomplish tasks that were in the past performed by human beings.”
In addition to alleged patent infringement, Jawbone is also seeking an import ban on Fitbit fitness trackers based on allegations that Fitbit stole trade secrets from Jawbone. Jawbone, in a lawsuit last year, claimed Fitbit lured Jawbone’s employees to Fitbit in an attempt to steal information related to marketing plans and product design. Fitbit countered that there is no evidence of improper conduct and stated that they will be focusing their case on the facts and patent claims. The Court confirmed that Fitbit will face trial on claims that Fitbit stole Jawbone’s trade secrets on May 9.
The two companies have been involved in an ongoing intellectual property battle for years. A representative from Jawbone provided the following statement “The two patents that are the subject of the ITC ruling represent only a portion of Jawbone’s case against Fitbit and a small subset of Jawbone’s overall patent portfolio. The Court confirmed that Fitbit will face a trial in 10 days on claims that it misappropriated Jawbone’s trade secrets. In the meantime, the patent ruling will be appealed.”
Fitbit also has a patent-infringement case that is pending against Jawbone at the agency.
