Oura sues rival Ultrahuman once more, threatening its U.S. good ring comeback

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 most recent in a string of patent disputes Oura has introduced in opposition to competing smart-ring makers, together with Samsung and RingConn.

In a grievance 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 inside 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 way in which 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 mentioned in a press release to TechCrunch. “Ultrahuman launched a redesigned ring however failed to handle continued infringement of Oura’s patents, searching for as an alternative to capitalize on our innovation and the market management we’ve got 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 grievance of patent infringement,” the corporate mentioned in its submitting.

A kind of patents, 12,769,363, can also 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 inside elements reminiscent of a curved battery, circuit board, magnets, and sensors.

Oura has additionally named Texas-based electronics producer SVTronics as a defendant within the lawsuit. The grievance says SVTronics manufactures the Ring Professional at a facility in Plano, Texas, allegedly underneath Ultrahuman’s path and management. IT additionally alleges that each firms infringe Oura’s patents by means of the manufacture, importation, and sale of the machine within the U.S.

Ultrahuman co-founder and CEO Mohit Kumar instructed TechCrunch the startup was assured within the Ring Professional and would battle the brand new allegations.

“Oura has now chosen to say completely different patents, together with one which issued simply two days earlier than this lawsuit was filed,” Kumar mentioned. “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 clients 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 isn’t the one rival going through authorized stress from Oura. The corporate has additionally pursued patent infringement claims in opposition to smart-ring makers together with Samsung, RingConn, Health-sues-circular-to-block-rival-biosensing-ring-app” goal=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener nofollow”>Round, and Health-nexxbase-smart-ring-patent” goal=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener nofollow”>Zepp Health. A few of these disputes have led to licensing agreements, with RingConn and Round agreeing to pay royalties to Oura to proceed promoting their merchandise.

The dispute emerges because the smart-ring market continues to develop. Analysis agency IDC expects world shipments to rise 12.8% this yr to 4.9 million models and attain about 6.3 million by 2030. Whereas Oura stays a number one participant within the class, Ultrahuman is among the many rising opponents.

The lawsuit additionally comes simply weeks after Oura shelved its $2.2 billion IPO, citing “uncertainty” available in the market. The corporate has continued so as to add options to its good rings, introducing new health metrics earlier this week that assist customers monitor how exercises have an effect on their cardiovascular Health.

In September, Ultrahuman raised $70 million from traders together with Qualcomm Ventures and Labcorp, valuing the startup at about $365 million. The startup can also be working with Qualcomm on a brand new good ring that would run extra software program instantly on the machine, as IT seems to be to increase past Health and health monitoring into areas reminiscent of AI interactions and gaming.

The article has been up to date to incorporate feedback from Ultrahuman co-founder and CEO Mohit Kumar.