Oura sues rival Ultrahuman as the smart ring patent wars begin

Smart ring leader Oura is suing rival startup Ultrahuman, claiming that the company has copied its products and accessed proprietary information.

The Finnish company, which has sold over a million of its Oura Ring models, filed the lawsuit in a Texas court in September, accusing Ultrahuman of patent infringement and gaining access to information through former Oura employees and investors.

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Ultrahuman, an Indian startup, released its first smart ring last year before developing a follow-up iteration - the Ultrahuman Ring Air - earlier this year.

And, as first reported by TheNextWeb, it's yet to respond to the allegations in the filing.

WareableThe Ultrahuman Ring Air

"Ultrahuman’s efforts to copy Oura do not stop at infringement, but have extended to hiring former Oura employees, soliciting current Oura engineers, and potentially benefiting from some of its primary investors gaining access to Oura’s proprietary and confidential information prior to launch of the Ultrahuman Ring,” Oura notes in the legal filing.

Oura has also spelled out several specifics regarding what exactly it feels Ultrahuman has copied, such as the use of titanium in the device, plus skin and PPG sensors that can measure and monitor the user's biomarkers. 

In many senses, it echoes the lawsuit Oura filed against Circular in early 2022, which also alleged patent infringements relating to the design of the rival's smart ring and the collection of user's biometric data.

While the outcome of that particular lawsuit is still ongoing, Oura has stated that it's seeking damages of an amount to be proved at trial in this latest case against Ultrahuman.

As such, it could be just the beginning of a prolonged legal battle between two of the smart ring industry's most prominent names. 

We'll update this story as and when it develops, but, for now, all eyes are on Ultrahuman to see how it responds to the allegations.