On Tuesday, August 23, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled that Fitbit did not steal rival trade secrets of rival Jawbone.
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Prior to smartwatches becoming so popular, Fitbit and Jawbone were some of the more prominent brands around when it came to wearables, although from what we can tell, Fitbit has clearly pulled ahead of the competition since.
Judge, Dee Lord, who presided the case, ruled that “no party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret”, and that there had been no violation of the Tariff Act which gives the commission the power to block products that infringe USA intellectual property. Jawbone had alleged that its rival had stolen classified information in a complaint to the International Trade Commission in July a year ago – an action would violate the the US Tariff Act, and potentially allow the ITC to block the import of Fitbit’s products into the US. Jawbone, which makes the Up line of fitness trackers, filed three lawsuits in two months in 2015 against Fitbit, claiming that Fitbit strategically lured away its employees to gain knowledge of key trade secrets, including its upcoming product lineup, information about its supply chain, and financial data.
Fitbit said it was pleased with the judge’s findings.
Flextronics has been a contract manufacturer for both companies, and is accused of using Jawbone design information on other products, a charge it denies.
Tuesday’s ruling comes on the heels of a victory for Jawbone in a separate trade case filed against the company by Fitbit. The Administrative Law Judge concluded that Fitbit did not misappropriate any Jawbone trade secrets.
“Jawbone is confident it will prevail when the full scope of its claims is heard by the jury”.
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A final decision in the case is scheduled for December, and any import ban would be subject to presidential review, which could put it in the lap of whoever gets sworn in on January 20.
