Hyperice filed a lawsuit in federal court against Therabody, the maker of the Theragun line of percussive massage guns, alleging infringement of the company’s patented percussion massage technology.
In the lawsuit filed on January 3, Hyperice asserted its recently-issued U.S. Patent No. 11,857,482, which claims technology dating back to 2013. In 2018, Hyperice launched the Hypervolt, a massage gun featuring a brushless motor system, variable speed settings and QuietGlide technology. Hyperice stated, “The success and rapid scale of the Hypervolt led to an influx of massage gun brands entering the market to replicate this technology, including Therabody. Hyperice sells numerous products embodying the patented technology, including its Hypervolt Go 2, Hypervolt 2 and Hypervolt 2 Pro.”
In the lawsuit, Hyperice contends that numerous Therabody products infringe on the patent, including Theragun Elite, Theragun PRO, Theragun Prime, Theragun Mini, Theragun Sense, and TheraFace Pro. Hyperice reported it would file additional lawsuits against other companies believed to have infringed on the patent in the coming weeks.
“In 2015 Hyperice launched the Raptor, which, at the time, was the world’s most advanced percussion massage device. In 2018, when we launched the Hypervolt at a more consumer-friendly price point, our business accelerated rapidly—so much so that we began to see an extraordinary amount of Hypervolt knockoffs and imitators enter the market,” said Jim Huether, CEO of Hyperice. “As a company focused relentlessly on innovation and quality to deliver exceptional products to our consumers, we value ingenuity, and we protect our inventions by obtaining patents. We will use the legal system aggressively to clean up the percussion market from imitators and knockoffs who we believe are using Hyperice’s IP in their devices.”
Hyperice reported that in 2023, “the massage gun market had been valued at $542.6 million and expected to reach well over $1 billion in the coming years with growth being fueled by the advancement of technology, consumers’ understanding of the benefits and prioritization of overall wellness and self-care.”
Jon Howell, general counsel at Hyperice, said, “We will aggressively defend our intellectual property rights and take all appropriate steps to ensure that our innovative products and technology are not misappropriated by opportunists seeking to knock us off. Hyperice has successfully removed hundreds of infringing products globally and will continue to enforce its intellectual property through litigation in federal court as necessary.”
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, are representing Hyperice in the lawsuit. Arnold was previously a patent litigation partner at several firms, including Kirkland & Ellis LLP and, most recently, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP.
Image courtesy Hyperice
