Icon Health & Fitness has filed a lawsuit against a major fitness equipment rival, Cybex International, trying to get Cybex to stop accusing it of false advertising, product disparagement and unfair competition. Cybex attorneys have been making the claims for about six months. Icon is seeking a declaratory judgment stating that its actions do not constitute unfair competitions under U.S. law.
The war of words started with an expert report that compared Cybex’s Arc Trainer 750 AT with Icon’s FreeMotion brand FreeStrider. Cybex says that the tests, done by Dr. Matthew Rhea, were flawed, causing inaccuracies in the report. In a June letter to Pat McGinnis, the president of FreeMotion Fitness, Cybex alleged the report was damaging its business and demanded that FreeMotion collect and destroy all copies of it. Subsequently, Cybex has dispatched two similar letters in recent weeks, prompting Icon’s legal response.
In a separate lawsuit where Icon is also the named plaintiff, Yukon Fitness was sued for patent infringement on Nov. 10 for allegedly infringing on Icon’s patent for “re-orienteering a treadmill with lift assistance” that was issued to the company in June 1998. Yukon sells a line of treadmills and exercise machines to Wal-Mart.
