Strava filed a lawsuit against Garmin on October 3, 2025, alleging patent infringement related to tracking exercise routes, specifically segments and heatmaps. The lawsuit claims Garmin violated a Master Cooperation Agreement.
Details of the Lawsuit
Strava’s complaint seeks a permanent injunction to prevent Garmin from selling products featuring segments or heat map capabilities. This could impact a significant portion of Garmin’s hardware offerings and its Connect tracking program. The lawsuit is surprising given the long-standing partnership between Strava and Garmin, which has lasted about a decade and includes various integrations between their platforms.
According to the source, the allegations of infringement reportedly date back a long time, yet Strava is only now pursuing legal action. This raises questions about the timing of the lawsuit.
Response from Strava
Strava Chief Product Officer Matt Salazar addressed the situation on Reddit, explaining that the lawsuit stems from Garmin’s new developer guidelines for API partners. These guidelines require the Garmin logo to be displayed on every activity post and related content. Salazar suggested this move is intended to protect user data, although it may seem like a complaint about Garmin branding its own data.
