As the legal world turns: Precor sues Nautilus

Precor is suing Nautilus for patent infringement of its elliptical on two Schwinn elliptical trainers that were introduced and shown at last August’s Health and Fitness Business Expo. The original complaint, filed in the Western District of Washington court on Sept. 19, cited an original suit against Schwinn Cycling & Fitness for patent infringement in January 2000, but that was stayed pending patent reexamination, after which Schwinn declared bankruptcy and was sold to Nautilus. Precor has asked the court to ask Nautilus to stop producing the products (which are done by Johnson), to destroy any that exist and to compensate it for any damages. Nautilus, in an answer to the court in October, told the court it denies any patent infringement and asks the complaint be dismissed. The case is still pending. Nautilus has declined to comment since it is a pending legal matter. SNEWS View: If you search court documents around the country, you’d quickly discover that lawsuits are flying constantly. But it was interesting to stumble upon this one as SNEWS researched the filing by Nautilus against Icon.