On February 14, 2022, Hydrow, Inc., manufacturer of the Hydrow Rower, brought a design patent infringement and trade dress infringement action against iFit Health & Fitness (formerly Icon Health & Fitness) in the District of Delaware.

The complaint walks through the long evolution of the Hydrow Rower and the intent of its designer to create a unique visual rower concept. According to the complaint, the closest prior art is fairly far afield from the Hydrow Rower design. 

In contrast, per the complaint, the iFit offering is argued to be quite similar to the patented design and its commercial embodiment. The iFit design allegedly incorporates at least 8 aesthetic features of the patented design, for example. 

This appears to be Hydrow’s first foray into patent infringement litigation. iFit (Icon), on the other hand, is of course no a stranger to patent litigation, either on the defendant or plaintiff side.

We will report back with developments in this case as it develops.