Oura Files New Patent Suit Against Ultrahuman Over Redesigned Ring Pro

Oura has filed a fresh lawsuit against rival smart ring maker Ultrahuman, this time targeting the Ring Pro, the product Ultrahuman introduced after losing an earlier fight over its Ring Air. The complaint, lodged in a Texas federal court, alleges that the device infringes two Oura patents covering design and internal components, according to a post on Oura's blog.

The Finland-based company is asking for monetary damages and wants the court to stop Ultrahuman from selling the new wearable in the United States, as it did with the earlier model.

The dispute has a history. Last year, Oura won its case against Ultrahuman, and the US International Trade Commission ruled that the Ring Air violated several Oura patents. That ruling led to a ban on US sales of the Ring Air, although the product remains available in Europe and other markets.

Ultrahuman, which is based in India, then redesigned the Ring Pro with the aim of avoiding Oura's intellectual property in the American market. Earlier this year, the redesign received approval from US Customs and Border Protection.

Oura rejects the idea that the changes were sufficient. "After it was found to be infringing Oura patents, Ultrahuman recently introduced a modified version of its ring, claiming its redesign no longer infringed our patents. That claim is false," the company wrote, adding that the new ring "still incorporates many of Oura's patented innovations and continues to infringe our intellectual property."

One of the patents in the suit was granted only two days before the complaint was filed, TechCrunch reported. Patent 12,769,363 appears to broadly cover a smart ring design featuring a housing, a battery and specific internal components. The Ring Pro for the US market is built at a plant in Plano, Texas, by a company called SVTronics under Ultrahuman's direction, and Oura has named SVTronics as a defendant as well.

Ultrahuman has said it will contest the action and that the Ring Pro remains on sale in the US. In a statement to Engadget, a spokesperson said the redesign "has already been through independent review in the United States," noting that Customs and Border Protection concluded after an earlier proceeding that the Ring Pro did not infringe the Oura patent considered at that time. The spokesperson said Oura "has now chosen to assert different patents, including one that issued just two days before this lawsuit was filed," and that the company would "defend our position vigorously."

The case adds to a busy period of legal and public attention for Oura. The company recently announced a partnership with the US military that involves a Palantir hosting environment. It is also in a prolonged patent fight with Samsung: in 2024, Samsung pre-emptively sued Oura over concerns that Oura planned to take action against the Galaxy Ring, and Oura later did sue Samsung. As of this summer, the two companies remained locked in that dispute.