Garmin Acquires Longtime Partner Firstbeat

Garmin has acquired the consumer licensing branch of Finnish physiological analytics company Firstbeat Technologies after using its software solutions for over ten years. Firstbeat focuses on using heart data and mathematical modeling to provide wellness information, including assessments of sleep and fitness; its algorithms have been used by many wearables makers including Casio, Samsung, and Huawei.

Although Garmin is known for its smartwatches, the company only has one patent that specifically addresses sleep technology. Firstbeat only has two publications in our Consumer Sleep Technology Patent Radian®, one of which was filed earlier this year. The most recent application teaches a method for determining an individual’s sleep pressure, or the brain’s need for sleep, by analyzing user activity as well as previous sleep data. Sleep need determination is a relatively small field within consumer sleep technology for now, although Whoop also has publications directed towards this metric. Garmin claims that Firstbeat will continue licensing its technology to third-party companies even after the acquisition, and it remains to be seen how this will affect financial and patent activity in the future.