Fall of Jawbone at legal hurdle

Jawbone and Fitbit were arch rivals in the early days of the wearable technology. Now that Fitbit has gone to become the market leader in fitness trackers after listing at the New York Stock Exchange last year.

Jawbone, which saw its valuation cut in half in a financing round in January, struggled to keep pace with new competitions from Samsung, Apple watches, and Fossil.

Jawbone, the maker of UP wristbands and Jambox wireless speakers sued Fitbit last year for poaching employees, who alleged, took Jawbone’s trade secrets with them when they left, and for infringing its patents. The case was taken to both the US International Trade Commission, which has the power to ban, offending products from sale, and to California courts, where it hopes a jury might hand over ” millions of dollars” in damages. The ITC threw out both Jawbone’s patent case and Fitbit’s countersuit and this week an ITC judge ruled that ” no party has been shown to have misappropriated any trade secret.”

Fitbit CEO James Park said  the ruling  showed the allegations were “nothing more than a desperate attempt by Jawbone to disrupt Fitbit’s momentum to compensate for their own lack of success in the market.” Jawbone said it would appeal for a review at the ITC and continue with its California case.