Jawbone countersues Fitbit over activity tracker patent 'abuse'

Jawbone isn't letting up on its plan to sue Fitbit into oblivion any time soon. The wearable maker has responded to a Fitbit patent lawsuit (itself meant as a response to Jawbone) with a countering suit of its own, accusing Fitbit of abusing its patents in a "plainly meritless" case. Of course, as we've seen in previous tech lawsuits, the patents are really incidental here -- this is ultimately about pressuring Fitbit into settling a case it might otherwise try to fight in court.

Fitbit, for its part, calls this a "misguided attempt for publicity" that masks Jawbown's own poor performance. That's a somewhat ironic claim (Fitbit would rather not talk about the alleged corporate data theft that sparked the whole thing), but it does illustrate how fierce this fight is getting. Both are treating their lawsuits as competitive weapons, and they're betting that one more court date might be all it takes to make a rival give in.