Rogue Fitness is Getting Sued for Patent Infringement
What happened?
On July 26th, Jump Rope Systems, LLC, a Colorado based company, filed a patent infringement suit against Rogue Fitness, the Official Equipment Supplier for the CrossFit Games.
By who?
The suit was filed by Molly Metz, a five-time World Jump Rope Champion, and Paul Borth, joint owners of Jump Rope Systems, LLC.
Metz and Borth designed a unique jump rope handle that allowed for faster rotation by using a bearing shaft and pivoting eye-style design, allowing the jumper to create rope swings much faster than the traditional rope. Metz and Borth applied to patent their inventions in 2008 and were granted U.S. Patent Nos. 7,789,809 and 8,136,208 in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The patents were later assigned to plaintiff Jump Rope Systems, LLC, a company they jointly own.
What does the lawsuit say?
The suit alleges that Rogue Fitness willfully and intentionally copied JRS’s patented pivoting-eye speed jump rope technology, which they claim was actually created by Molly Metz and Paul Borth.
“Years ago, Metz and Borth approached Rogue Fitness with their patented pivoting-eye speed jump rope technology. According to the complaint, Rogue Fitness later ‘went rogue’ and simply copied the design for its own use,” said attorney Chris Limpus. “The complaint alleges that since 2011 Rogue Fitness has sold no less than 14 different styles of jump ropes that all incorporate the patented pivoting-eye speed jump rope technology.”
What’s next?
Rogue’s General Counsel said, “Rogue strongly denies any alleged violation of patents held by Jump Rope Systems and will vigorously defend itself against such claims. Rogue will respond further in court.”
July 31, 2018 UPDATE: We updated the article to reflect a statement from Rogue.
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