Fitbit and Garmin have come under investigation by the US International Trade Commission regarding the technologies used on smartwatches. In an official note, the USITC explains that the investigation started after a complaint from Philips about alleged patent infringements for wearable devices.
However, US regulators point out that no decision has yet been made in this regard and that the investigation has the task - in fact - of understanding as soon as possible whether there have been violations or not. Control will also affect other companies: Ingram Micro Inc, based in California, and the Chinese Maintek Computer and Inventec Appliances.
The case would seem to concern four intellectual property patents covering various functions related to smartwatches, such as motion detection and alarm reporting. "We believe these claims are unsubstantiated and stem from Philips' failure in the wearable market." This is Fitbit's response to the Reuters news agency's request for comment. No comments at the moment by the other accused.
A spokesperson for Philips, however, stated that the company has been attempting to negotiate licensing deals with Fitbit and Garmin for three years, but that the talks eventually broke down. "We expect third parties to respect our intellectual property in the same way we respect the intellectual property rights of third parties." In the complaint, the Dutch company also asks regulators to apply tariffs or an import ban to all those companies that are found guilty of infringement of patents and intellectual property of Philips. Now, the ball goes to the USITC who will have to make a decision.
If you are looking for a great smartwatch for the monitoring of sports activity, take a look at Garmin Fenix 5 on Amazon.
