Summary
It claims Ultrahuman's Ring Pro violates two separate patents, including a brand new one. Last year, Oura successfully sued Ultrahuman and got a court…
Last year, Oura successfully sued Ultrahuman and got a court to block sales of its Ring Air product in the US. Now, Oura has sued Ultrahuman again in a Texas federal court over its latest product, the Ring Pro, saying it violates two of its patents involving design and internal components, according to a Oura's blog post. Oura is seeking monetary damages and wants to (again) stop Ultrahuman from selling its latest wearable.
"After it was found to be infringing Oura patents, Ultrahuman recently introduced a modified version of its ring, claiming its redesign no longer infringed our patents. That claim is false. Ultrahuman's latest ring still incorporates many of Oura's patented innovations and continues to infringe our intellectual property," Oura claimed in the post.
India-based Ultrahuman's Ring Air was banned for sale in the US after the ITC ruled that it violated several Oura patents (it's still on sale in Europe and other markets). Ultrahuman subsequently redesigned its Ring Pro to avoid violating Oura's IP in America, and received approval from the US Customs and Border Protection earlier this year.
However, Finland-based Oura now says that Ultrahuman is violating two separate patents, including one that was approved just two days before the company filed its lawsuit, TechCrunch reported. That patent (12,769,363) appears to broadly cover a smart ring design with a housing, battery and specific internal components. The Ring Pro is manufactured at a plant in Plano, Texas for the US market by a company called SVTronics under Ultrahuman's direction, and Oura also named SVTronics as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Noting that its Ring Pro remains on sale in the US, Ultrahuman said it would fight Oura's legal action. "Oura has now chosen to assert different patents, including one that issued just two days before this lawsuit was filed," Ultrahuman co-founder and CEO Mohit Kumar told TechCrunch. "We will address these claims through the appropriate legal process and will defend our position vigorously."
Oura has been in the press of late after it announced a partnership with the US military that included the use of a Palantir hosting environment. Last year, Samsung pre-emptively sued Oura in 2024 over concerns that Oura was itself planning to sue Samsung over its launch of the Galaxy Ring. Oura subsequently did sue Samsung, and as of this summer, the companies remain locked in a pitched legal battle over patents.
Source: Engadget
