Patents are increasingly becoming a strategic lever in the smartwatch and wearable market. Functional areas such as live segments, heat maps and fall detection are at the centre of current patent lawsuits involving Garmin as well as players such as Apple, Google and Samsung.

The focus is particularly on those functions that users now consider standard. At the end of September 2025, Strava sued Garmin for alleged patent infringements in the area of live segments and heat maps, but dropped the case in October. At the same time, Suunto has been pursuing a patent lawsuit in the US District Court in Texas since September 2025, accusing Garmin of infringing five patents relating to golf swing detection, respiratory rate measurement and antenna and housing design. Furthermore, in early January 2026, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) launched an investigation into wearable devices with fall detection, as UnaliWear considers its patents to have been infringed by Apple, Google, Samsung and Garmin, among others.

For users, the outcome of these proceedings will influence which features will be available or potentially restricted in future devices and which innovations will catch on more quickly or slowly.

This example shows that patents are an essential strategic lever for companies to maintain their market positions and regulate innovation. For many manufacturers, this means that product development today is not just a question of technology, user experience and brand positioning, but also a legal challenge.

One thing is clear: the market remains highly dynamic, and companies that consider intellectual property rights at an early stage and use them strategically will have a decisive advantage in the coming years.