Hyperice, the manufacturer of percussion, dynamic air compression, thermal, vibration, and contrast therapy technology, filed 16 additional lawsuits in Federal Court on January 16 against Sharper Image, HoMedics, Ekrin Athletics, and over a dozen others including retailers CVS, Costco, Walgreens, and Kohl’s related to the sale of percussive massage guns, alleging infringement of Hyperice’s patented percussion massage technology.
Hyperice filed a lawsuit against Therebody on January 4, asserting its recently-issued U.S. Patent No. 11,857,482, which claims technology dating back to 2013. The company said then it planned to file more lawsuits.
In this latest round, which targets massage gun direct sellers and retailers, Hyperice asserts its recently-issued patent identified in the Therabody suit, which claims technology dating back to 2013 is in use in nearly all massage guns sold today.
Hyperice said it made national headlines in 2018, launching the Hypervolt, the first “modern-day” massage gun, featuring a brushless motor system, variable speed settings and QuietGlide technology. The company said the success and rapid scale of the Hypervolt led to an influx of massage gun brands entering the market to replicate the company’s technology, including the companies mentioned above.
Hyperice sells products using its patented technology, including the Hypervolt Go 2, Hypervolt 2, and Hypervolt 2 Pro.
In the lawsuits, Hyperice contends that several Sharper Image, HoMedics, Ekrin Athletics, and other products infringe Hyperice’s IP, including, but not limited to, the Sharper Image Powerboost lin, and the Ekrin Athletics massage guns, along with the HoMedics, Trakk, Eleeels, Vybe, Osaki, LifePro, and other lines of massage guns.
Hyperice said it intends to file more lawsuits against other sellers and retailers believed to have infringed on this patent in the coming weeks.
Hyperice also filed a series of related patent applications to further enhance the scope and scale of protection around the percussion category at large.
This latest announcement follows legal action taken by Hyperice on January 3 where the company sued Therabody, maker of the Theragun and TheraFace products, in Federal Court for patent infringement, contending that numerous Therabody products infringed on its patented technology, including Theragun Elite, Theragun PRO, Theragun Prime, Theragun Mini, Theragun Sense, and TheraFace PRO. Hyperice reported it would add additional products in the lawsuit against Therabody, including the Theragun Relief and any new products it believes to infringe on the recently issued patent.
“At Hyperice’s core, we develop innovative products and technologies to enhance recovery, performance and longevity for consumers worldwide,” said Jim Huether, CEO of Hyperice. “For any company working to lead and grow a new and emerging market in the technology sector, the inventive process is extremely important. As such, we hold innovation in high regard and safeguard our products and technology by obtaining patents. There are hundreds of millions of dollars of massage guns sold every year in the U.S. alone, and we believe that a vast majority of these massage guns infringe this patent. We will use aggressive legal actions against all infringers to re-instill credibility of the percussion market.”
Hyperice contends that the massage gun market was valued at $542.6 million in 2023 and will reach well over $1 billion over the coming years with growth fueled by the advancement of technology, consumers’ understanding of the benefits and prioritization of overall wellness and self-care.
“The actions that we have taken today are one part of a larger legal strategy to protect our intellectual property rights. We intend to take additional actions in the coming days and weeks to ensure that our innovative line of percussion massage guns is protected,” said Jon Howell, general counsel for Hyperice.
Hyperice is represented in the lawsuit by Lawrence LaPorte of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, Ben Herbert of Miller Barondess, LLP, and Brian Arnold, Associate General Counsel and Head of IP at Hyperice. Arnold was previously a patent litigation partner at several firms, including Kirkland & Ellis LLP and, most recently, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP.
Image courtesy of Hyperice
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For more SGB Media coverage on Hyperice, see the associated articles below.
Hyperice Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Therabody
