The fastest way around a patent is to invent a different design
In the quiet architecture of a finger-worn device, a legal ruling has redrawn the boundaries of an entire industry. Oura, the Finnish pioneer of smart ring technology, secured a patent victory at the US International Trade Commission that has effectively barred rivals Ultrahuman and RingConn from American shores as of October 2025. What unfolds now is a familiar human story: the tension between protection and progress, between the right to one's invention and the relentless forward motion of innovation. The outcome may ultimately hinge not on courtrooms, but on which company can outpace the very patents that define the present moment.
- A single patent—covering how a ring's internal components are layered—has proven broad enough to exile two competitors from the world's most lucrative consumer market.
- Ultrahuman, already planning US manufacturing expansion to weather new tariffs, now finds that growth frozen, its only American lifeline a subscription-free software model its rivals haven't matched.
- Oura is pressing its advantage on multiple fronts: filing new infringement complaints against Samsung, Reebok, and others, while simultaneously launching ceramic rings, a new charging case, and a Texas factory serving the US Department of Defense.
- Ultrahuman is betting on software as its escape route—announcing free Blood Vision biomarker testing and a customizable health-metric app store at CES, territories where the ITC holds no jurisdiction.
- The race to re-enter the US market is already underway, with competitors designing entirely new ring architectures, and industry insiders suggesting that the pace of innovation may render today's winning patent obsolete within months.
The smart ring market contracted sharply in October 2025, when import bans took effect against Ultrahuman and RingConn following a patent ruling in favor of Oura at the US International Trade Commission. The disputed patent—number 178—protects a layered internal hardware structure that turns out to describe how most smart rings are fundamentally built. Narrow in language, sweeping in consequence.
For Ultrahuman, the blow landed at a particularly difficult moment. The company had been preparing to expand its US manufacturing footprint to meet demand and absorb new tariffs. That plan is now suspended. What remains is the company's most distinctive asset: a subscription-free model that gives users full health insights without the monthly fee Oura charges. In a market increasingly defined by recurring revenue, that stance has become both a competitive identity and a survival strategy.
Oura, meanwhile, has moved aggressively beyond its courtroom win. The company struck licensing deals with select competitors—including Circular and RingConn—while simultaneously filing new infringement complaints against Samsung, Reebok, Zepp Health, and Nexxbase. It is also expanding its own product line and breaking ground on a Texas facility to supply the US Department of Defense.
Ultrahuman's chief business officer, Bhuvan Srinivasan, acknowledged the weight of intellectual property while pointing toward software as the company's forward path. The ITC's jurisdiction stops at hardware; apps are open territory. At CES, Ultrahuman announced that its Blood Vision service—screening 20 biomarkers, the same number as a standard annual checkup—would be offered free. It also unveiled PowerPlugs, an app store allowing users to select which health metrics their ring tracks, a direct answer to complaints that Oura's expanding biomarker suite has noticeably shortened battery life.
The deeper question now is whether Oura can innovate faster than its rivals can engineer around its patents. Competitors are already designing new ring architectures intended to sidestep the ruling entirely. In a category moving this quickly, a legal victory and a technological advantage may prove to be very different things.
The smart ring market just got smaller. As of October, you can no longer buy an Ultrahuman or RingConn ring in the United States. The reason sits in a patent dispute that has reshaped the entire category—and it hinges on something as specific as how a ring's internal components are arranged.
Oura, the Finnish company that dominates the smart ring space, won a patent case at the US International Trade Commission last August. The patent in question—number 178—protects a particular hardware design: a layered structure with internal and external components housing electrical circuits. It sounds narrow until you realize it describes, essentially, how most smart rings are built. The ITC ruled that both RingConn and Ultrahuman had infringed on this patent, and the consequence was immediate: import bans. Neither company can ship new rings into the US market.
For Ultrahuman, the timing was especially brutal. The company had been planning to expand its US manufacturing facility to meet growing demand and to sidestep new tariffs. That expansion is now on hold. But Ultrahuman's real distinction—the thing that set it apart from Oura—was its refusal to charge a subscription. While Oura users pay six dollars a month for access to their ring's insights, Ultrahuman offered the same health tracking for free. That subscription-free model is now its only foothold in the American market.
Oura, meanwhile, has been aggressive. Beyond winning the patent case, the company reached licensing agreements with some competitors—Circular in France, and later RingConn and Omate—allowing them to continue selling in the US. But Oura also filed new complaints against Samsung, Reebok, Zepp Health, and Nexxbase, alleging infringement on the same patent. The company is also expanding its own product line, launching a ceramic ring collection and a new charging case, and breaking ground on a Texas manufacturing facility to supply the US Department of Defense.
When I spoke with Ultrahuman's chief business officer, Bhuvan Srinivasan, he framed the situation with a kind of pragmatic optimism. "Intellectual property is super important to us," he said, but he also noted that the pace of innovation in smart rings is so rapid that patents may simply become obsolete. The fastest way around a patent on one design is to invent a different one. Srinivasan, who has a background in biomedical engineering and previously worked at Medtronic, emphasized that Ultrahuman is pushing forward through software rather than hardware. The ITC has no jurisdiction over apps, so the company continues to add features to the software that pairs with its rings.
This week at CES, Ultrahuman announced that its entry-level Blood Vision service—a competitor to Oura's and Whoop's direct blood testing offerings—would be free. The free tier checks 20 biomarkers, the same number a typical annual checkup screens for. The company also introduced PowerPlugs, an app store that lets users choose which health metrics their ring tracks. This matters because every additional measurement drains battery life faster. As Oura has expanded the number of biomarkers it monitors, users have noticed the battery lasting noticeably shorter.
For now, Ultrahuman's existing US customers will continue to receive subscription-free insights. The company is betting that by the time the import ban might expire—or by the time competitors develop new ring designs that sidestep the patent entirely—it will have built enough software-based value to remain relevant. The smart ring market is moving fast enough that yesterday's legal victory may be tomorrow's obsolete constraint. What happens next depends on whether Oura can keep innovating faster than its competitors can design their way around its patents.
Citas Notables
The pace of progress is so high that ultimately it will be innovation, and how quickly you can put out new features and new technology that determines success.— Bhuvan Srinivasan, Ultrahuman chief business officer
Patent 178 is a foundational smart ring form-factor patent, but it's just one of many in our broader patent portfolio with much more innovation in the smart ring space ahead.— Avonte Campinha-Bacote, Oura chief legal officer
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
So Oura won a patent case and now two major competitors can't sell rings in the US. That seems like a total market victory for them.
It looks that way on the surface, but the patent itself is oddly broad. It describes a layered ring design—basically how most smart rings are built. That's actually a weakness for Oura long-term, because competitors can design around it.
How quickly can they do that?
Fast. The industry moves so quickly that a new design could be ready in months. The real question is whether Oura can stay ahead through innovation rather than just patent enforcement.
What's Ultrahuman doing in the meantime?
They're pivoting entirely to software. They can't import new hardware, but the ITC has no power over apps. So they're adding features to their app—free blood testing, customizable metrics—to keep users engaged.
That's clever. But doesn't that just delay the problem?
It buys time. If Ultrahuman can build enough software value, they become harder to kill even if they re-enter the hardware market later. And if competitors develop new ring designs soon, the patent ban becomes irrelevant anyway.
So Oura's legal win might not matter as much as it seems?
Exactly. In a market moving this fast, yesterday's patent victory can become tomorrow's speed bump. The real competition is innovation, not litigation.