Fitness giant F45 has lost a four-year court battle in which it claimed a rival had copied its computer technology.
Fitness giant F45 has lost a court battle to stop a rival gym from using its computer fitness technology.
The global fitness giant, which is among the most visited gyms in the country, had been embroiled in a four-year legal battle with rival gym Body Fit Training Company (BFT), alleging that it had copied its training system for computer.
But the Australian-founded gym lost the battle this week after a Federal Court judge ruled that the technology it uses to display its workouts to users cannot be patented.
F45 had alleged that BFT, four of its franchisees, and BFT director Cameron Falloon had infringed on its patents by copying its system that uses computers to broadcast workout routines to its studios, which gym-goers then watch as they work out.
BFT denied the infringements and sought to revoke the patents, arguing that they related to a method that required the use of “general computers to perform ordinary functions”.
In his ruling, the judge declared the F45 patents invalid and said they should be revoked.
“The scheme is not made patentable simply because it is implemented using generic computer technology,” Judge John Nicholas said in Tuesday’s ruling.
“It’s the kind of scheme that historically has never been considered patentable subject matter.”
Since he found the patents invalid, there was no need to consider the issue of infringement, the judge added.
F45, which is backed by Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg and has more than 1,750 studios in 45 countries – he was ordered to pay BFT’s court costs.
BFT joint chief executives Cameron Falloon and Richard Burnet said they were “delighted” with the find.
“We look forward to continuing to offer a different and better product as Australia’s fastest growing fitness franchise,” the pair said in a statement.
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