Strava Sues Garmin Over Patents and Partnership Fallout
So here’s the big sports tech bombshell that nobody really had on their 2025 bingo card: Strava has filed a lawsuit against Garmin. Yes, you heard that right. Strava, the company best known for its social fitness platform and cycling leaderboards, has taken one of its longest and closest partners to court. And not just for some minor disagreement—Strava is demanding that Garmin stop selling a huge chunk of its devices, including fitness watches and cycling computers, claiming they’ve infringed on patents and violated past agreements.
At the center of the case are two key patents. The first is tied to segments —those virtual stretches of road or trail where athletes compare times, chase personal records, and compete for that “King of the Mountain” crown. Strava built its reputation around segments, but Garmin also introduced its own version back in 2014. Strava says that not only did Garmin copy their concept, but the two companies signed a Master Cooperation Agreement in 2015 that allowed Garmin to use Strava Segments under very specific terms. According to Strava, Garmin pushed past those limits and expanded their own “Garmin Segments” in ways Strava never authorized.
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The second patent involves heatmaps —those colorful overlays showing where people run, ride, or hike the most. Strava claims its technology, patented in 2014, was used by Garmin without permission in features like Trendline Routing and popularity maps on devices like the Edge cycling computers and Fenix watches. But here’s the twist: Garmin actually had its own heatmap features as early as 2013, well before Strava ever filed its patent. That means Garmin’s lawyers will almost certainly argue that Strava’s claim doesn’t hold water, pointing to “prior art” that predates Strava’s patent.
So why is this happening now, nearly a decade after the original disputes? Timing seems to be the key. Strava and Garmin have had a rocky year behind the scenes, especially after Strava tightened its API rules in 2024, upsetting developers and partners. Garmin, in turn, announced new branding and data usage rules in 2025 that didn’t sit well with Strava. At the same time, Garmin has been rolling out more paid features in its Connect+ platform, including route-finding tools that overlap with Strava’s subscription perks. From Strava’s perspective, Garmin is edging into their turf, using technology Strava says it created.
In the lawsuit, Strava is asking for more than just damages. They want a permanent injunction —in plain English, that would force Garmin to stop selling products that include these contested features. Since nearly all Garmin fitness devices use segments or popularity routing in some form, this would be massive if granted. Strava argues that monetary relief isn’t enough, because what’s at stake is user loyalty, competitive differentiation, and their entire brand identity.
Of course, cases like this are rarely clear-cut. Software patents are notoriously murky, and courts often look hard at whether those patents should have been granted in the first place. Garmin has plenty of evidence that it built some of these features independently, years before Strava filed for protection. What’s certain, though, is that this lawsuit signals a serious breakdown between two companies that once thrived on partnership. For athletes who use both platforms daily, the fallout could eventually shape what features stay available on their devices.
And that’s where things stand: Strava and Garmin, once allies, now locked in a courtroom battle that could reshape the fitness tech landscape.
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