Oura Sues Rival Ultrahuman Over Ring Pro Patent Infringement, Threatening U.S. Smart Ring Comeback

If you thought the legal battle lines in the wearable tech sector had settled, consider the latest salvo fired in federal court. Smart ring pioneer Oura has lodged a fresh patent infringement lawsuit against Indian rival Ultrahuman, setting up a high-stakes legal showdown that directly threatens the Bengaluru-based startup's recent return to the lucrative American market.

Filed in a federal court in Texas, Oura's latest complaint targets Ultrahuman’s redesigned Ring Pro, alleging that the device infringes upon two specific Oura patents governing both the ring’s overall design and its internal engineering—specifically touching on battery architecture and internal sensor placement. With this move, Oura is seeking both substantial monetary damages and a permanent injunction to halt U.S. sales of the Ring Pro altogether.

src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1488590528505-98d2b5aba04b?auto=format&fit=crop&w=1200&q=80" alt="Ultrahuman Ring Pro device resting on a clean surface"

The Ultrahuman Ring Pro, whose U.S. availability is now heavily clouded by fresh litigation from market leader Oura.

The Anatomy of a Redesign and a Rapid Retaliation

This legal friction is the direct sequel to a protracted feud that kicked off in 2023, when Oura initially took aim at Ultrahuman’s older Ring Air. That previous challenge culminated in an International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling in August 2025, which secured an import ban on the Ring Air. Refusing to yield, Ultrahuman engineered a complete structural overhaul, launching the Ring Pro in February. That redesigned hardware managed to secure a favorable ruling from U.S. Customs and Border Protection in March, clearing the runway for Ultrahuman’s U.S. market comeback.

However, Oura argues that the Customs clearance applied narrowly to the single patent litigated in the earlier dispute, leaving untouched two fresh vulnerabilities in Ultrahuman’s intellectual property armor. One of the newly asserted patents, designated as number 12,769,363, was issued to Oura by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on October 20—a mere 48 hours before the lawsuit hit court dockets. This patent covers a compact smart ring design housing a curved battery, circuit board, custom magnets, and biometric sensors.

Expanding the Target: Manufacturing in the Crosshairs

Oura is not stopping at Ultrahuman. The legal filing notably expands the defendant list to include SVTronics, a Texas-based electronics manufacturer. According to the complaint, SVTronics handles the physical assembly of the Ring Pro at a facility in Plano, Texas, operating directly under Ultrahuman’s direction and control. By targeting the manufacturer alongside the brand, Oura aims to choke off the supply chain within domestic borders.

This aggressive posture arrives during a turbulent financial period for Oura. Just weeks prior, Oura shelved a planned $2.2 billion initial public offering, pointing to ongoing market uncertainty. Meanwhile, Ultrahuman secured a $70 million funding round in September from prominent backers including Qualcomm Ventures and Labcorp, valuing the startup at approximately $365 million and signaling deep ambitions to expand smart ring functionality into AI interactions and gaming via Qualcomm hardware partnerships.

Broader Industry Consolidation and Royalty Realities

Oura's legal strategy extends far beyond a single opponent. The Finnish company has initiated legal or regulatory actions against nearly every major entrant in the digital finger-wear space, including Samsung, RingConn, Circular, and Zepp Health. While companies like Samsung continue to fight Oura in court, others have chosen financial capitulation; both RingConn and Circular opted to enter multi-year patent licensing agreements, agreeing to pay undisclosed royalties to Oura to maintain legal U.S. distribution.

According to market tracking data from IDC, global smart ring shipments are projected to climb 12.8% this year to reach 4.9 million units, scaling toward 6.3 million by 2030. As the pie expands, Oura is fiercely defending its early market dominance through aggressive intellectual property enforcement.

Ultrahuman has not yet issued a formal public response to the latest filing. As the case proceeds through the federal court system in Texas, the immediate availability of the Ring Pro to U.S. consumers hinges entirely on whether the court chooses to grant Oura's requested preliminary injunction.