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If you have After last year Smart episode dramaYou may have noticed that the number of health tracking rings you can purchase has shrunk since October 21, 2025.
like Inform us In August, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Oura in a patent case in which Oura claimed that competitors RingConn and Ultrahuman had infringed the company’s patent for a smart ring that tracks health and fitness statistics. Oura’s victory later led to the emergence of RingConn and Ultrahuman Forbidden From importing new rings to the United States.
The lawsuit was bad news for both Oura’s competitors, especially Ultrahuman, which planned to expand its reach US based manufacturing facility To meet growing market demand (and ostensibly also to circumvent new US tariffs). Ultrahuman differs from Oura in that its smart ring does not have a subscription; Oura users pay $6 per month to use its rings.
I caught up briefly with Ultrahuman’s chief business officer, Bhuvan Srinivasan, to outline the company’s next steps for tackling the US market, and learn more about the latest smart ring wrangles.
Why were rings banned?
The International Trade Commission ruled that RingConn and Ultrahuman had violated intellectual property rights rules 178 patentswhich protects a specific design of the loop hardware – for example, if the loop has a layered arrangement with internal and external components containing internal electrical components.
If you’re thinking that’s a surprisingly broad description that could cover… well, pretty much any smart ring, or a wide range of electronic devices in general, then you’re right. Over the past few years, several smart ring manufacturers have been involved in legal disputes over this patent.
This has been achieved in many different ways. In 2024, Oura announced that it had reached a multi-year licensing agreement with Circular, French manufacturer of smart ringsThis would allow Circular to continue selling new rings in the United States. (This move seems a bit less generous when you consider that Ring 2’s two-week testing period was Experiencing server and connection issues.)
In 2024 too, Samsung tried to do this Proactively sue Oura Against future patent infringement claims in a case dismissed by a judge. Samsung’s concerns were not unjustified. In late 2025, Ora then foot last complaint Against Samsung (Galaxy Ring), Reebok (Reebok Smart Ring), Zepp Health (Amazfit Ring), and Nexxbase (Luna Ring). Then Aura reached A License Agreement with RingConn And another competitor, Omate, which would allow the company to continue selling rings in the United States.