So what’s the patent that Oura is suing everyone for?

You might have come across news about a legal case involving Oura and several smart ring companies — including us at Ultrahuman.

It’s easy to assume that this is the classic tale of a lone innovator protecting a breakthrough while new entrants simply imitate.

But here’s the twist: the patent at the center of Oura’s International Trade Commission (ITC) case—US 11,868,178—was only issued on 9 January 2024, based on an application filed on 24 May, 2023. Just 63 days after the patent issued, on 13 March 2024, Oura filed its ITC complaint (Inv. No. 337-TA-1398) against nearly every smart-ring competitor, including Ultrahuman. And what’s more, this is not a “home-grown” Oura patent – Oura acquired the patent family from another company in 2023 (Proxy), who themselves acquired it from yet another company in 2020 (Motiv).  

Let all that sink in…

This isn’t a dispute over years of secret R&D. It’s about a very recent patent purchase now being wielded to limit the choices ring-wearers like you have, including the choice to use the leading no-subscription health-monitoring ring on the market. To some extent, it’s natural for the incumbents to panic when a new player is able to deliver a superior product, charge less for it, and not lock customers into a never-ending subscription payments..  

Now, let’s look at the Motiv / Proxy patent that Oura purchased and then sued us for.  

What does the ’178 patent actually cover?

The ’178 patent claims a combination of generic elements that have been in the public domain for years.  Specifically, the claims recite a specific, but basic, arrangement of the following:

• internal and external “housing components,” 
• a cavity formed between those two “housing components,” and 
• electrical components—a battery and printed circuit board or PCB—positioned between the two “housing components” with the battery being “shape[d] and size[d]” to fit within the cavity.  

Together, the patent claims the combination of these off-the-shelf ideas inside a ring form factor.. Is this inventive enough? That’s for you to decide.

A quick reality-check on “who invented what”

• Smart rings that monitor a person’s health have been known since the 1990s.
• There were many finger-worn rings that included housing components, batteries, printed circuit boards, sensors, and LEDs, all of which are basic components that have been used long before November of 2013 (the earliest possible priority date for the ’178 patent).

For example, curved batteries were well known in the art prior to November 2013, such that curved batteries of the size and shape that would fit within a ring were commercially available from various vendors, including GMBPow. In other words, none of those building blocks originated with Oura or its proxy company. The ’178 patent is about bundling well-known parts into a ring and calling that bundle proprietary.

Why would the Patent Office allow the ’178 Patent to issue if it doesn’t claim anything new?  

No system is perfect, and not every patent issued by the PTO ends up being valid.  In fact, the Patent Office has a special Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) dedicated to reviewing challenges to the validity of issued patents – and PTAB is currently reviewing the validity of the ’178 patent in a post-grant review proceeding that was instituted on December 6, 2024 (PGR2024-00030).  In fact, the PTAB has already determined that it was more likely than not that the claims of the ’178 Patent are invalid as “obvious” based on an existing patent (US 10,303,867 B2).  While the PTAB’s final decision on post-grant review will not come out until later this year, in general over 70% of such proceedings result in invalidation of all challenged claims.¹

Ultrahuman’s mission

Our mission from Day 1 has been to deliver more value to you: to provide innovative and useful features without a predatory and mandatory fee. Here are just some of the features* that we launched, that you liked, and that Oura ended up launching right after we did:

*We don’t mind the above TBH. The best consumer markets are where people learn from each other and compete to deliver the best value to the customer.

And here are some Ultrahuman-only features that Oura hasn’t yet copied:

Why this matters to you

1. Choice & progress
   Aggressive patent enforcement on generic building blocks can slow down new feature roll-outs, limit supply, and raise prices for everyone.
2. Ultrahuman’s track record
   • We’ve been the most progressive health tracking ring platform in terms of both features and openness (see table above).
   • Delivers all core health metrics without a monthly fee.
   • Scaling a Texas manufacturing hub to cover 100 % of U.S. demand.
3. Mission over manoeuvres
   We entered wearables to empower your metabolic, cardiovascular, and recovery journey—not to play legal chess. When patents are used tactically instead of productively, users lose.

Where things stand?

• The ITC has issued an initial determination favouring Oura, but several review steps remain—and multiple Post-Grant Review petitions are already challenging the ’178 patent’s validity.
• Regardless of the legal timeline, your ring will keep improving—with firmware updates, new biomarkers, and faster domestic manufacturing already in motion.

Our Texas UltraFactory is expanding

Our Texas factory has been growing at an incredible pace. We’re currently trending at a rate of 400 rings made daily. This currently covers 40% of the US demand. We’re super proud to partner with the team at SVTronics to bring the first-ever Smart ring manufacturing facility to the USA. We’re also planning to invest a ton in the foundational battery chemistry side to make your Ring Air last longer than ever.

One thing that will certainly change is that we will double down on shipping and improving the Ultrahuman platform even more now. It’s no longer just about us but about the future of the health monitoring space. Thank you for demanding transparency and pushing us to keep building.

With love from Bengaluru, Abu Dhabi, and Plano,

The Ultrahuman Team

This communication is for informational purposes only and reflects Ultrahuman’s perspective. It is not intended to provide legal conclusions or commentary on pending litigation.