Adidas drops Asics patent suit

Sports brand Adidas has dropped a patent infringement claim against Asics America, the US subsidiary of Japan-based Asics.

Adidas filed a stipulation for dismissal of the patent case, which involved fitness-tracking patents, on Wednesday, March 14 at the US District Court for the District of Delaware. The court dismissed the suit with prejudice the following day.  

Adidas filed the original complaint in March 2017, claiming that Asics America had infringed ten fitness-tracking patents. It also brought the lawsuit against Asics-owned FitnessKeeper, the operator of fitness-tracking app Runkeeper, alleging that FitnessKeeper had used the patents in its My Asics mobile app.

The US patents in question were: 8,068,858; 7,805,150; 7,805,149; 7,480,512; 9,415,267; 8,968,156; 8,858,399; 8,814,755; 8,725,276; and 8,579,767.

Adidas claimed that both the Asics and Runkeeper apps include software with a GPS receiver and software to integrate and work with third-party devices such as heart rate monitors.

The defendants were accused of having knowledge of the patents and being aware of them since February 2014, when Adidas sued Under Armour and MapMyFitness over the same patents.

Adidas has recently had its reputation affirmed by the EU General Court, as reported by WIPR earlier this month.

The sports brand won an opposition against Belgium-based Shoe Branding Europe after the latter filed to register two trademarks with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. The trademarks covered footwear and featured two stripes positioned at an angle.

The General Court found that the applied-for marks risked taking “unfair advantage” of Adidas’s earlier 'three-stripe' trademark and the reputation associated with it. Shoe Branding was subsequently ordered to pay the costs.