Remember that Jawbone and Fitbit were suing each other over patents and trade secrets and unfair hiring practices? Jawbone started the fight, but Fitbit’s coming out better.
A judge at the International Trade Commission yesterday tossed out Jawbone’s patents, ruling that the company’s patent on the very idea of gathering heath and sleep data is invalid. The ruling weakens the possibility that Jawbone could keep Fitbit from bringing its products in the United States from its overseas manufacturing plants.
The dispute’s not over, though. Bloomberg notes that Jawbone’s trade secret case against Fitbit goes to trial May 9, and that Fitbit’s claims against Jawbone are still pending.
For those who want to look it up themselves, the case is In the Matter of Certain Activity Tracking Device Systems, 337-963, U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington). We’d link to it, only it doesn’t seem to be freely available.