Valencell is the company behind the technology used by most modern wearable devices. Some vendors, like Apple and Fitbit, have developed their own tech, and are thus not licensing a thing from Valencell.
Valencell, however, thinks that the two companies [Apple and Fitbit] have infringed on their patents and has turned to court to fight for its intellectual property. The patent infringement lawsuits have been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, asserting that Apple Watch, Fitbit Surge and Fitbit Charge HR infringe on the following Valencell patents:Valencell’s patent portfolio includes 29 granted patents, with more than 60 patents pending.
- 8,923,941 – Methods and apparatus for generating data output containing physiological and motion-related information
- 8,886,269 – Wearable light-guiding bands for physiological monitoring
- 8,929,965 – Light-guiding devices and monitoring devices incorporating same
- 8,989,830 – Wearable light-guiding devices for physiological monitoring
“As more and more wearable products powered by Valencell’s award-winning PerformTek sensor technology are now available in the marketplace, and the market has begun to value the importance of highly accurate biometric wearables, we’ve seen some companies choose to use our patented inventions without pursuing a patent license,” Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, President of Valencell, said in a statement. “We will defend our intellectual property to ensure our current and future licensees get the full value of licensing our inventions, as we continue to innovate around our foundational dream of seamless, personalized mobile health and fitness.”
Valencell’s patent portfolio includes 29 granted patents, with more than 60 patents pending. With over 25 total licensees, the company continues to see global demand for accurate biometric sensor technology with significant growth in ear and wrist wearables.
Aside from this latest legal action, Fitbit is also facing a class action lawsuit from its own users base who claim that Fitbit’s heart rate monitors don’t work as advertised.