Oura sues Ultrahuman again to block Ring Pro from US shelves

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Jagmeet Singh techcrunch.com

Oura has sued its Indian rival Ultrahuman for a second time, asking a federal court in Texas to block US sales of the Ring Pro smart ring and to name a Texas contract manufacturer, SVTronics, as a co-defendant. The complaint alleges the redesigned Ring Pro infringes two Oura patents covering the ring's design and internal components, including a curved battery, circuit board, magnets and sensors. The timing is the story. One of the two cited patents was issued to Oura on October 20 — two days before the lawsuit was filed. Ultrahuman's Ring Pro launched in February and received a favorable ruling from US Customs and Border Protection in March, paving the way for a return to the American market after an import ban on its earlier Ring Air took effect. Oura argues the Customs ruling covered only the patent at issue in the earlier dispute, not the two patents in the new complaint. The two companies have been fighting since 2023, when Oura first sued over the Ring Air. A separate case before the International Trade Commission in 2024 produced the ruling that led to the import ban. Oura has pursued similar claims against Samsung, RingConn, Circular and Zepp Health; some of those disputes ended in licensing agreements, with RingConn and Circular agreeing to pay royalties to keep selling their products. An Oura spokesperson said Ultrahuman "has a history of copying Oura's innovations" and that the Indian startup had introduced a redesigned ring but "failed to address continued infringement." Ultrahuman raised $70 million in September from investors including Qualcomm Ventures, at a valuation of about $365 million, and is working with Qualcomm on a ring that could run more software directly on the device. The lawsuit landed weeks after Oura shelved its $2.2 billion IPO, citing market "uncertainty." IDC expects global smart-ring shipments to rise 12.8 percent this year to 4.9 million units. Each ITC case and customs fight costs a fraction of what competing with a cheaper rival on price and features would cost a market leader defending its margin.