Good ring maker Oura has sued Indian rival Ultrahuman once more, searching for to dam U.S. gross sales of its Ring Professional (pictured above) simply months after the redesign helped the Bengaluru-based startup return to the American market following an import ban. The case is the newest in a string of patent disputes Oura has introduced in opposition to competing smart-ring makers, together with Samsung and RingConn.
In a criticism filed Thursday in a federal court docket in Texas, Oura alleged that Ultrahuman’s Ring Professional infringes two of its patents masking the ring’s design and inner elements, together with its battery and sensors. Oura is searching for financial damages and a everlasting injunction that may cease Ultrahuman from promoting the ring.
Ultrahuman’s redesigned Ring Professional, launched in February, obtained a positive ruling from U.S. Customs and Border Safety in March, paving the best way for the startup’s return to the U.S. market. The choice adopted an import ban on Ultrahuman’s earlier Ring Air, which took impact after Oura secured a patent infringement ruling from the Worldwide Commerce Fee in August final yr.
“Ultrahuman has a historical past of copying Oura’s improvements, as demonstrated by the 2025 ITC ruling in opposition to the corporate,” an Oura spokesperson stated in a press release to TechCrunch. “Ultrahuman launched a redesigned ring however failed to deal with continued infringement of Oura’s patents, searching for as a substitute to capitalize on our innovation and the market management now we have constructed.”
Oura argues that the Customs ruling coated solely the patent concerned within the earlier dispute, not the 2 patents cited in its newest lawsuit: D804,471 and 12,769,363. “To guard its patent rights, Oura is now pressured to file this criticism of patent infringement,” the corporate stated in its submitting.
A kind of patents, 12,769,363, can be very new. It was issued to Oura on October 20, simply two days earlier than it filed the lawsuit. It covers a smart-ring design incorporating inner elements corresponding to a curved battery, circuit board, magnets, and sensors.
Oura has additionally named Texas-based electronics producer SVTronics as a defendant within the lawsuit. The criticism says SVTronics manufactures the Ring Professional at a facility in Plano, Texas, allegedly below Ultrahuman’s course and management. It additionally alleges that each corporations infringe Oura’s patents by means of the manufacture, importation, and sale of the system within the U.S.
Ultrahuman co-founder and CEO Mohit Kumar informed TechCrunch the startup was assured within the Ring Professional and would battle the brand new allegations.
“Oura has now chosen to claim completely different patents, together with one which issued simply two days earlier than this lawsuit was filed,” Kumar stated. “We are going to deal with these claims by means of the suitable authorized course of and can defend our place vigorously. There isn’t a court docket order affecting Ring Professional, and it stays obtainable to prospects within the U.S.”
Oura and Ultrahuman have been preventing over patents since 2023, when Oura sued the Indian startup over its Ring Air, which had helped Ultrahuman make a reputation for itself within the U.S. Oura introduced a separate case earlier than the U.S. Worldwide Commerce Fee in 2024 that helped it safe a ruling final yr, resulting in the import ban on the Ring Air.
Ultrahuman just isn’t the one rival going through authorized strain from Oura. The corporate has additionally pursued patent infringement claims in opposition to smart-ring makers together with Samsung, RingConn, Circular, and Zepp Health. A few of these disputes have led to licensing agreements, with RingConn and Round agreeing to pay royalties to Oura to continue selling their products.
The dispute emerges because the smart-ring market continues to develop. Analysis agency IDC expects international shipments to rise 12.8% this yr to 4.9 million items and attain about 6.3 million by 2030. Whereas Oura stays a number one participant within the class, Ultrahuman is among the many rising rivals.
The lawsuit additionally comes simply weeks after Oura shelved its $2.2 billion IPO, citing “uncertainty” available in the market. The corporate has continued to add features to its good rings, introducing new health metrics earlier this week that assist customers observe how exercises have an effect on their cardiovascular well being.
In September, Ultrahuman raised $70 million from traders together with Qualcomm Ventures and Labcorp, valuing the startup at about $365 million. The startup can be working with Qualcomm on a brand new good ring that might run extra software program instantly on the system, because it appears to be like to increase past well being and health monitoring into areas corresponding to AI interactions and gaming.
The article has been up to date to incorporate feedback from Ultrahuman co-founder and CEO Mohit Kumar.
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