Strava sues Garmin and demands a ban on the sale of its products. The dispute is surprising, this is the reason

Renowned technology blogger and sports technology expert DC Rainmaker reported on a surprising lawsuit between two major players in the field of sports technology. Strava, which operates a popular social network for athletes, filed a lawsuit against the well-known sports tracker manufacturer Garmin. Strava believes that Garmin has infringed its patents and is demanding a ban on the sale of virtually all fitness devices of its long-standing partner.

What is Strava demanding?

The lawsuit was filed on September 30, 2025, in a Colorado district court. In it, Strava accuses Garmin of infringing two key patents – one related to segments and the other related to the heatmaps feature and popular routes. Based on these accusations, it is demanding a permanent injunction that would prohibit Garmin from selling and offering devices with these features.

This restriction would affect virtually all current Garmin fitness watches, including the Forerunner, Fenix, and Epix series, as well as Edge cycling computers. Strava further demands that Garmin remove the disputed features from the Garmin Connect platform.

Historical context of the dispute

Strava and Garmin have been closely cooperating partners for over a decade. Their collaboration began to formalize significantly in 2015 when the companies signed a Master Cooperation Agreement (MCA), which enabled the implementation of the Strava Live Segments feature on Garmin devices.

According to Strava, however, Garmin violated this agreement by continuing to expand its own Garmin Segments feature, which it introduced in 2014 along with the Edge 1000 cycling computer, in addition to implementing Strava Live Segments. Strava claims that Garmin used the collaboration to “carefully study these features, painstakingly copy them, and then release them as Garmin’s own features“.

Strava filed a patent application for segments in 2011, and it was granted four years later. The second patent concerning so-called heatmaps, which display popular routes based on user activity data, was filed in 2014 and granted in 2016. However, as DC Rainmaker points out, Garmin began offering a similar feature as early as 2013, which was even before Strava filed the patent.

The real reason for the conflict

According to Strava, the main reason for the dispute is an attempt to defend against Garmin’s new requirements for mandatory data source attribution. On Reddit, Matt Salazar, Strava’s Product Director, commented on the situation, stating that Garmin announced new guidelines for its API partners, including Strava, on July 1.

According to him, these guidelines require that the Garmin logo be present on every activity post, screen, chart, image, and sharing card. Strava must meet these requirements by November 1, otherwise Garmin threatens to cut off API access, which would prevent uploading activities from Garmin devices to Strava.

However, based on his own analysis of Garmin’s documentation, DC Rainmaker points out that the Garmin logo is not mandatory. Garmin only requires data source attribution in text form, similar to what other companies, including map providers, also require.

Garmin’s reaction

Garmin’s official reaction is so far non-committal. A company spokesperson for both DC Rainmaker and Android Central stated that they would not comment on the situation, as Garmin generally does not comment on ongoing legal disputes. It is therefore likely that the company will defend itself through legal means.

What does this mean for users?

When asked by DC Rainmaker whether the dispute would affect ordinary users, Strava replied: „Our legal dispute is between two companies; we do not intend to take any steps that would disrupt Garmin users’ ability to sync their data with Strava, and we hope that Garmin values our shared users in the same way.“

Therefore, the synchronization of activities between Garmin devices and the Strava platform should not be threatened for now. However, if the court were to grant Strava’s demands, it could lead to the removal of popular features from Garmin watches and cycling computers, which could negatively affect the experience of some athletes.

The entire dispute surprised even experts

As DC Rainmaker notes, this move by Strava is somewhat surprising, as Garmin is one of its most important partners. Users of Garmin devices make up a significant portion of Strava’s paying subscribers. A potential disruption of cooperation could thus significantly harm Strava. It is also interesting that Strava decided to sue Garmin over features that have peacefully coexisted for almost a decade, and only now have become problematic.

What is your take on this dispute? Do you use both Garmin and Strava and are you concerned about potential impacts?

Sources: DC Rainmaker, Android Central, The Verge