Federal Court Grants WHOOP Preliminary Injunction Against Lexqi

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Federal Court Grants WHOOP Preliminary Injunction Against Lexqi

2026-02-05 02:00 Last Updated At：02:11

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 4, 2026--

WHOOP, the human performance company, today announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has granted a motion by WHOOP for a preliminary injunction against Shenzhen Lexqi Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (Lexqi). The injunction, issued in a trade dress infringement lawsuit brought by WHOOP, orders Lexqi to immediately stop selling its infringing wearable product in the United States while the litigation proceeds.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260204015721/en/

WHOOP filed the lawsuit to protect the iconic design of its wearable, described as “a continuous fabric band that wraps over the device (i.e. a faceless device) with thin metal accents on the side of the device.” In its ruling, the court said, referring to this distinctive design, that “[t]he Whoop Trade Dress has been employed by plaintiff for more than ten years, and it has been central to plaintiff’s entire business during that timeframe.” The court found that the Lexqi device “is almost identical to [the WHOOP] device that embodies the WHOOP Trade Dress.” Therefore, WHOOP demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of its trade dress infringement claim and that continued sales of Lexqi’s product were likely to cause consumer confusion and irreparable harm absent immediate relief.

“WHOOP members trust us with their data and rely on our technology to make meaningful decisions about their health and performance,” said Jason Lynch, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Legal Officer of WHOOP. “Protecting our intellectual property is essential to preserving that trust. This ruling reinforces our commitment to innovation on behalf of our members and affirms the importance of respecting original technology.”

WHOOP filed suit against Lexqi in September 2025, asserting claims under the Lanham Act and related laws. The federal court’s decision reflects the importance of protecting consumers from confusion in the marketplace and ensuring that companies compete through genuine innovation rather than imitation.

WHOOP will continue to defend its intellectual property to safeguard the authenticity, quality, and integrity of the WHOOP experience as the case moves forward. The litigation is captioned WHOOP, Inc. v. Shenzhen Lexqi Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., Case No. 25-12690-FSS (D. Mass.). WHOOP is represented by Josh Dalton, Katherine Soule, and Tessa Ruff of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

About WHOOP:

WHOOP, the human performance company, empowers people to unlock their potential and live longer, healthier lives. The WHOOP membership delivers world-class wearable technology, personalized coaching, and actionable insights across recovery, sleep, training, and health.

WHOOP wearable devices feature groundbreaking innovations such as cardiovascular health screening (including an FDA-cleared ECG), Healthspan to measure Pace of Aging and WHOOP Age, and the first-of-its-kind wearable Blood Pressure Insights.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Boston, WHOOP has raised more than $400 million in venture capital and ships to 56 markets worldwide. To learn more or start a one-month free trial, visit whoop.com and connect with WHOOP on Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Washington Post cuts a third of its staff in a blow to a legendary news brand

The Washington Post laid off one-third of its staff Wednesday, eliminating its sports section, several foreign bureaus and its books coverage in a widespread purge that represented a brutal blow to journalism and one of its most legendary brands.

The Post's executive editor, Matt Murray, called the move painful but necessary to put the outlet on stronger footing and weather changes in technology and user habits. “We can't be everything to everyone,” Murray said in a note to staff members.

He outlined the changes in a companywide online meeting, and staff members then began getting emails with one of two subject lines — telling them their role was or was not eliminated.

Rumors of layoffs had circulated for weeks, ever since word leaked that sports reporters who had expected to travel to Italy for the Winter Olympics would not be going. But when official word came down, the size and scale of the cuts were shocking, affecting virtually every department in the newsroom.

“It's just devastating news for anyone who cares about journalism in America and, in fact, the world,” said Margaret Sullivan, a Columbia University journalism professor and former media columnist at the Post and The New York Times. “The Washington Post has been so important in so many ways, in news coverage, sports and cultural coverage.”

Martin Baron, the Post's first editor under its current owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, condemned his former boss and called what has happened at the newspaper “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”

As of midday, the Post did not have any news of the changes on its website.

Bezos, who has been silent in recent weeks amid pleas from Post journalists to step in and prevent the cutbacks, had no immediate comment Wednesday.

The newspaper has been bleeding subscribers in part due to decisions made by Bezos, including pulling back from an endorsement of Kamala Harris, a Democrat, during the 2024 presidential election against Donald Trump, a Republican, and directing a more conservative turn on liberal opinion pages.

A private company, the Post does not reveal how many subscribers it has, but it is believed to be roughly 2 million. The Post would also not say how many people it has on staff, making it impossible to estimate how many people were laid off Wednesday. The Post also did not outline its finances.

The Post’s troubles stand in contrast to its longtime competitor The New York Times, which has been thriving in recent years, in large part due to investments in ancillary products such as games and its Wirecutter product recommendations. The Times has doubled its staff over the past decade.

Eliminating the sports section puts an end to a department that has hosted many well-known bylines through the years, among them John Feinstein, Michael Wilbon, Shirley Povich, Sally Jenkins and Tony Kornheiser. The Times has also largely ended its sports section, but it has replaced the coverage by buying The Athletic and incorporating its work into the Times website.

The Post’s Book World, a destination for book reviews, literary news and author interviews, has been a dedicated section in its Sunday paper.

A half-century ago, the Post's coverage of Watergate, led by intrepid reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, entered the history books. The Style section under longtime Executive Editor Ben Bradlee hosted some of the country's best feature writing.

Word of specific cuts drifted out during the day, as when Cairo Bureau Chief Claire Parker announced on X that she had been laid off, along with all of the newspaper's Middle East correspondents and editors. “Hard to understand the logic,” she wrote.

In the immediate future, Murray said, the Post would concentrate on areas that demonstrate authority, distinctiveness and impact, and resonate with readers, including politics, national affairs and security. Even during its recent troubles, the Post has been notably aggressive in coverage of Trump's changes to the federal workforce.

The company's structure is rooted in a different era, when the Post was a dominant print product, Murray said in his note to staff members. In areas such as video, the outlet hasn't kept up with consumer habits, he said.

“Significantly, our daily story output has substantially fallen in the last five years,” he said. “And even as we produce much excellent work, we too often write from one perspective, for one slice of the audience.”

While there are business areas that need to be addressed, Baron pointed a finger of blame at Bezos — for a “gutless” order to kill a presidential endorsement and for remaking an editorial page that stands out only for “moral infirmity” and “sickening” efforts to curry favor with Trump.

“Loyal readers, livid as they saw owner Jeff Bezos betraying the values he was supposed to uphold, fled The Post,” Baron wrote. “In truth, they were driven away, by the hundreds of thousands."

Baron said he was grateful for Bezos' support when he was editor, noting that the Amazon founder came under brutal pressure from Trump during the president's first term.

“He spoke forcefully and eloquently of a free press and The Post's mission, demonstrating his commitment in concrete terms,” Baron wrote. “He often declared that The Post's success would be among the proudest achievements of his life. I wish I detected the same spirit today. There is no sign of it.”

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.