Therabody Files to Protect its IP, Says T.J. Maxx is Selling Knockoff Therapy Devices
The wellness tech company has filed six lawsuits to prevent unauthorized e-commerce sales & to protect its intellectual property
Therabody, a wellness tech company, is growing weary of retailers like T.J. Maxx attempting to imitate its trademarked Theragun smart percussive therapy devices. In response, Therabody announced that it has filed six lawsuits to protect its intellectual property and is also targeting unauthorized Amazon Marketplace retailers.
The lawsuits were filed in California, Delaware, Florida, Texas, and New York.
Therabody’s latest lawsuit against TJX Companies, which owns and operates T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, and Marshalls, is the company’s fifth filing against the off-price retailer. According to the wellness tech company, its current lawsuits involve patent, trademark, trade dress infringement, unfair competition, false designation of origin, trademark dilution, aiding and abetting, and civil conspiracy.
“We pride ourselves in world-class research and development, and invest heavily in technologies and solutions that are fundamentally shifting people’s attitudes around self-care to ultimately revolutionize health and well-being,” says Benjamin Nazarian, Chief Executive Officer of Therabody.
“We partner with world-class retailers to educate their sales associates and consumers on the benefits of our proprietary products. It is disappointing and surprising when a large, sophisticated retailer such as T.J. Maxx not only chooses to sell knockoff triangle-shaped devices that infringe our patents but also devices that use our trademarked Theragun name,” says Therabody’s Nazarian. “We believe that infringing products like these intentionally trade on Therabody’s name and reputation, and they hurt our brand and deceive consumers who think they are getting the benefits of a Theragun, but end up with inferior products.”
The company says it has over 680 patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Therabody is also battling unauthorized resellers on Amazon who they say are detrimental to its consumers. The company says unauthorized resellers are guilty of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and deceptive trade practices for its Theragun Pro, Theragun Elite, and Theragun Prime devices.
Therabody says it has already removed over 1,000 unauthorized resellers from the Amazon marketplace for offering products that were ineligible for Therabody’s limited warranty. The warranty only extends to products sold by authorized sellers, says Therabody.
In a statement, the wellness tech company says intellectual property infringement is a serious matter and will take legal action against any unauthorized retailers or sellers of infringing products. Therabody has already filed over 14 lawsuits since 2020 to protect its therapy device technology from HoMedics, DJO, Boss Audio Systems, and others.
