Written by: Eric Wittgrove

Health Tracker Systems LLC (“Health Tracker”) sued Garmin International, Inc. (“Garmin”) for patent infringement in the Central District of California on March 6, 2023. The lawsuit alleges that Garmin’s Forerunner 45/45S smartwatch infringes U.S. Patent No. 6,582,380, entitled “System and Method of Monitoring and Modifying Human Activity-Based Behavior,” which issued in 2003, and expired in June 2021.

Health Tracker is organized under Delaware law. Garmin is based in Kansas. No other claims are asserted in Health Tracker’s complaint.

The asserted patent mentions a user wearing an activity monitor that can vibrate when the user’s intensity of physical movement exceeds a threshold. The patent contemplates modifying the behavior of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), with Figure 1 (shown below), showing “a classroom with many students 110, some of whom have ADHD 115 and whose behavior is being modified.”

Since July 2022, Health Tracker has also sued six other companies, asserting those companies each sell smartwatches that infringe this same patent, including Fossil Group (over their Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch HR Collider), Samsung (over their Galaxy Fit 2 smartwatch), Michael Kors (over their Access Gen5E MKGO), and Lenovo (over their Moto 360 smartwatch). The Garmin case docket is available here.