Case: Strava, Inc. vs. Garmin Ltd. and Garmin International, Inc. (Case No. 1:25-cv-03074-DDD-CYC, U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, September 30, 2025)

Strava positions itself as a pioneer in sports technology, with a user community numbering over 170 million users worldwide. The success of the platform is largely based on continuous investment in original technologies that convert raw GPS readings into meaningful data. Garmin, as a leading manufacturer of GPS devices (Edge cycling computers, Forerunner, Fenix, Epix smartwatches), entered into a Master Cooperation Agreement (MCA) with Strava in 2015.

This agreement provided for the integration of Strava segments on Garmin devices. However, it granted Garmin a narrow, limited license to use Strava Segments exclusively for implementing the user experience defined in Appendix A to the agreement, and only for Strava users. The MCA also expressly prohibited Garmin from adapting, reverse engineering, copying, or distributing Strava segments, except as explicitly permitted by the agreement.

Strava claims that Garmin breached the MCA. Specifically, Strava alleges that Garmin expanded its own "Garmin segments" feature (which existed since 2014 but was unsuccessful) beyond the limitations of the MCA. Garmin allegedly used Strava's technologies and know-how acquired during the collaboration to develop and deploy its own segments and leaderboards (Garmin-branded segments) for non-Strava users, which exceeded the scope of the narrow license. These actions, according to Strava, violated not only the explicit terms of the contract but also aimed to undermine or destroy Strava's right to benefit from the contract, which constitutes a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

In addition to the breach of contract, Strava accuses Garmin of direct and indirect infringement of three of its patents, as Garmin's products and services—including Garmin Connect and devices such as Edge, Forerunner, Fenix, and Epix—utilize the patented inventions.

  • Infringement of Patent '922 (Segments): Strava asserts that Garmin's implementation of segments mimics the patented methods for segment definition, generation of virtual start/finish lines, and the matching process. This allegedly includes the use of thresholds (loose/tight match thresholds) and spatial indexing (e.g., R-tree) for scaling the search.
  • Infringement of Patents '651 and '053 (Popularity Routing): Strava accuses Garmin of using the patented technology that underlies Garmin's Trendline/Popularity routing and heatmaps features.

Strava claims that Garmin continued its activities even after receiving written notice of infringement and contract termination, at least on June 30, 2025, and again in July 2025. This persistence forms the basis for the accusation of willful infringement.

Strava demands damages, including the recovery of reasonable royalties and/or lost profits. It also seeks a permanent injunction that would prohibit Garmin from the further sale of hardware and use of software (e.g., Garmin Connect) containing the functionality infringing the Asserted Patents.