#1 Trademark & Patent Filing: Week Ending 8 October 2026

This is a weekly roundup of new trademark and patent filings from the sports watch and sensor brands this site covers. Trademarks come first, because a registered name usually becomes a product or feature and the name itself is often the clue. Patents follow as evidence of direction, and most never reach a product.

Other sites push out an alert for every patent and trademark the moment it is published. This roundup gathers the week into a single read and keeps your inbox clear. The weekly Deep Dive Digest email covers the wider sports technology news for those who want it.

Also in the Deep Dive series: Regulatory Filing, Legal Files, Fix Files, Feature Files and the Deep Dive Digest.

Whoop accounts for all of the week’s trademark activity, filing its W logo and its WHOOP word mark for retail store services in the United States on 2 October, with a WHOOP application at the EUIPO on the same day. Among the patents, Garmin was granted one for a rotatable control button on a wearable, and Google had an application published on predicting atrial fibrillation from a wearable. Oura, Ultrahuman, Apple and Suunto complete the list with filings on snoring detection, ring batteries, charging hardware and band fit.

Trademarks

Whoop: W (logo)

Whoop, Inc. of Boston filed this application at the USPTO on 2 October 2026 under serial number 50142308. The mark is described as a stylised letter W within a circle. It is filed in class 35 for retail store services and online retail store services featuring health and wellness goods and services, apparel, footwear and accessories, and technology goods and services. The application is made on an intent to use basis with a claim to a foreign priority filing, and it is awaiting assignment to an examining attorney.

Class 35 covers the act of selling and not the product sold, so this filing says nothing about a new strap or sensor. The inclusion of physical retail store services alongside online ones suggests that Whoop may be preparing to sell through its own shops, or through branded spaces inside other retailers, and the mention of footwear hints at a wider apparel range than the company sells today. For an athlete the practical effect would be the chance to try a band and its clothing for fit before buying, which matters for a device that depends on a snug sensor position.

Evidence: Trademark filed. Likelihood: Likely to ship. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Whoop: WHOOP

Whoop, Inc. filed the WHOOP word mark in standard characters at the USPTO on 2 October 2026 under serial number 50142311. It is filed in class 35 for the same retail and online retail store services as the logo application: health and wellness goods and services, apparel, footwear and accessories, and technology goods and services. The application is awaiting assignment to an examining attorney.

The company already holds its name for hardware and software, so this application appears to extend that protection to the business of retailing. Filed as a pair with the logo, it reads as preparation for a branded retail presence. It does not point to a new device, and athletes should not read a product launch into it.

Evidence: Trademark filed. Likelihood: Likely to ship. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Whoop: WHOOP (European Union)

A WHOOP application is reported at the EUIPO under number 019430929, dated 2 October 2026. The EUIPO record could not be opened for this roundup, so the owner, the classes and the description of goods and services are not confirmed here.

The date matches the two United States applications, which suggests that this is the European counterpart of the same retail filing. If that is correct, the retail plans would cover Europe as well as the United States. That reading is an inference from the timing alone.

Evidence: Trademark filed, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: euipo.europa.eu, reported from around the web

Patents

The USPTO full text records for this week’s patents could not be opened for this roundup, and the mirror sites have not yet indexed them. The descriptions below therefore rest on the published titles and numbers, and every reading is an inference.

Garmin: a rotating control button for a watch

The patent is titled “Rotatable control button assembly for a wearable device”. It was granted on 6 October 2026 as US 12754590, from application 19197864. The title describes a button on a wearable that can be turned as well as pressed.

A rotating button would allow an athlete to scroll through data screens, maps and menus with one finger, which is easier than a touchscreen with wet hands or gloves. Garmin’s sports watches have relied on five fixed buttons for many years, so a rotating control would be a notable change in how they are operated. Earlier reports of Garmin crown patents make this a consistent line of work, although a grant does not confirm a product.

Evidence: Patent granted, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Google: predicting atrial fibrillation before it occurs

The application is titled “Methods for Predicting Atrial Fibrillation (AFIB) Occurrences Using a Wearable Device”. It was published on 1 October 2026 as US 20260294263 A1, from application 19477390. The title indicates a method that uses wearable data to forecast episodes of atrial fibrillation, as distinct from detecting one that is already under way.

Current Pixel Watch and Fitbit devices can flag an irregular rhythm after the event. A predictive version would, if it worked, give warning of a period of raised risk. That is relevant to long-serving endurance athletes, a group in which atrial fibrillation is more common than in the general population. Any such feature would need medical clearance before release, which makes the route to a product slow.

Evidence: Patent application published, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Oura: detecting snoring and bedroom noise

The patent is titled “Snoring and environment sounds detection”. It was granted on 6 October 2026 as US 12751664, from application 18455048. The title describes the detection of snoring and of other sounds in the sleeping environment.

Sound data would add context to a sleep score. An athlete could see whether a poor night followed snoring, which can accompany disturbed breathing, or simply a noisy room. That would make a low readiness figure easier to interpret before a hard session. The title does not say whether the sound would be captured by the ring, a phone or another device.

Evidence: Patent granted, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Oura: a ring whose outer shell forms part of the battery

The application is titled “Wearable ring device with battery in cover”. It was published on 1 October 2026 as US 20260299644 A1, from application 19693996. It shares its title with an Oura patent granted in 2025, US 12379744, and appears to be a later filing in the same family. That earlier patent describes a ring in which a cavity in the outer shell, sealed by a cover layer, forms the battery chamber, so that the shell is part of the battery housing and the battery can extend around the circumference.

Using the shell as the battery casing removes a separate cell wall. That could give a thinner ring or a larger battery in the same size, and battery life is the main practical limit on a ring worn through multi-day events. The new application itself was not read, so what it adds to the earlier patent is not known.

Evidence: Patent application published, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Ultrahuman: a charger that also monitors the room

The patent is titled “Charging and ambience monitoring device”. It was granted on 6 October 2026 as US 12756230, from application 19035482. The title describes a single device that charges a wearable and measures the conditions around it.

Ultrahuman already sells a separate home monitor for air quality, light, noise and temperature. A ring charger with those sensors built in would place the measurements at the bedside without a second device, and would allow sleep and recovery data to be read against the conditions in the bedroom. Whether this describes a future charger or the existing home product is not clear from the title.

Evidence: Patent granted, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Apple: an adjustable watch band

The patent is titled “Adjustable band of wearable electronic device”. It was granted on 6 October 2026 as US 12754435, from application 18666649. The title describes a band for a wearable whose fit can be adjusted; the mechanism is not known from the title.

Band tension has a direct effect on optical heart rate accuracy, because a loose watch moves on the wrist during running and lets in stray light. A band that is easier to tighten for a workout and loosen afterwards would address a common cause of poor wrist heart rate data. Apple holds many band patents and few of them reach the shops.

Evidence: Patent granted, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Suunto: a wireless charger for watches

This is a design patent titled “Wireless charger for watches”. It was granted on 6 October 2026 as US D1151461, from application 35527105. A design patent protects the appearance of an object and not the way it works.

The title points to a Suunto charger that works without contact pins. Charging contacts on a sports watch are exposed to sweat and salt water, and they are a known point of corrosion and failure, so a wireless charger would remove one source of wear. The filing does not show which watch the charger is for.

Evidence: Patent granted, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

Garmin: a watch case built from an inner frame and outer parts

The application is titled “Watch housing having a receiving structure and outer structure elements”. It was published on 1 October 2026 as US 20260299520 A1, from application 19278514. The title describes a watch case made of a receiving structure to which separate outer elements are fitted.

A case assembled in this way could allow different outer materials or finishes on a common core, which would be one route to offering a model in several versions, or to replacing a damaged bezel without replacing the watch. That is a reading of the title only, and the application may concern assembly and nothing the wearer would notice.

Evidence: Patent application published, not independently checked. Likelihood: Possible. Source: uspto.gov, reported from around the web

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Last Updated on 8 October 2026 by tfk the5krunner