In the Matter of Certain Activity Tracking Devices, Systems and Components

According to a ruling issued by the US International Trade Commission (ITC), Fitbit did not steal Jawbone’s trade secrets, and the ITC will not revive Jawbone’s efforts to seek an import ban on fitness-tracking devices by Fitbit for allegedly misappropriating trade secrets.

The trade secrets case between Jawbone and Fitbit began in July 2015 when Jawbone initially accused Fitbit of infringing six of its patents and of poaching its employees to use their knowledge of Jawbone’s trade secrets. Jawbone hoped that the ITC would ban Fitbit from importing its products to the US from its overseas manufacturing partners. Fitbit manufactures its devices overseas and imports them to the US.

Administrative Law Judge Sandra Lord found in August 2016 that Fitbit had no violated the Tariff Act because “no party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret.” Violating the Tariff Act would have given the commission the ability to block importation of products that infringe U.S. intellectual property. The ruling by the ITC in October 2016 confirms the previous ruling and is the full commission’s third ruling in Fitbit’s favor in the past five months.

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