The longstanding patent infringement court case between Wahoo Fitness and Zwift has reportedly come to a close.
According to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, the two sides have agreed to settle on the case 11 months after it was first filed in October 2022.
It is claimed that both sides have asked the court to dismiss the case, along with any counterclaims, and that each party will pay its own legal fees. It's unclear why, nor whether any settlement was paid or terms agreed outside of court.
The case pertained to Zwift's launch of its first smart turbo trainer, the 'Hub'. The brand behind the popular indoor cycling platform had long been working on a hardware solution to pair with its software offering, and after initially scrapping an in-house indoor trainer and smart bike project in May 2022, the Hub trainer was unveiled just months later in early September. Instead of designing a new product from the ground up, the brand had instead licensed the design of another trainer, the JetBlack Volt, making a few tweaks prior to the launch.
Its launch came with an aggressive pricing strategy. It was priced at £449 ($499 / €499), significantly undercutting the original JetBlack Volt as well as Wahoo's competitor product, the Kickr Core which at the time was priced at £699.99 ($899.99 / €799.99).
A month later, on the day Zwift officially started selling the trainer, Wahoo filed several patent infringement claims against Zwift, as well as a similar lawsuit against the trainer's original manufacturer JetBlack. The patents at the centre of the case were: 10,933,290 "Bicycle Trainer", and 10,046,22 and 11,090,542 – both named "System and Method for Controlling a Bicycle Trainer".
Reading between the lines, and given the JetBlack Volt had been on the market for more than a year prior, it was widely assumed that Wahoo was triggered by the pricing strategy more than the product itself.
Wahoo settled its case with JetBlack two months later in December 2022, at the same time pursuing the case against Zwift.
"Wahoo and JetBlack have amicably settled the patent lawsuit Wahoo filed against JetBlack," A statement from Wahoo said at the time. "As a result, JetBlack will cease selling its Volt smart trainer in the United States and Europe - where Wahoo has patents. The other terms of the settlement agreement are confidential. The lawsuit filed against Zwift is a separate case and is still in progress.”
The court case hearing was set for April, and according to reports from DC Rainmaker at the time, a judge denied Wahoo's request for a preliminary injunction, which if approved would have stopped Zwift selling the Hub trainer in the United States throughout the remainder of the court proceedings.
Those proceedings have rumbled on since, and were set to continue doing so through to March 2025, but the two sides have reportedly agreed to settle, in somewhat unclear circumstances, asking the court to dismiss the case.
Cyclingnews has reached out to both Wahoo and Zwift for clarity and comment, both of whom have confirmed a full statement will be shared in the coming days.
Zwift also added it is "delighted to confirm the amicable settlement of all pending litigation. We will be sharing further details shortly."
