`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`
`
`v.
`
`
`
`
`C.A. No. ______________
`
`DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
`
`PELOTON INTERACTIVE, INC.,
`
`
`
`
`
`ICON HEALTH & FITNESS, INC.,
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
`
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`
`
`COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT,
`FALSE ADVERTISING, AND UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES
`
`Plaintiff Peloton Interactive, Inc. (“Peloton”) brings this action against ICON Health &
`
`
`
`Defendant.
`
`Fitness, Inc. (“ICON”), and alleges as follows:
`
`SUMMARY OF THE ACTION
`
`1.
`
`Since its inception in 2012, Peloton has changed the fitness industry, becoming
`
`the largest interactive fitness platform in the world with a loyal community of over 2.6 million
`
`members. In fiscal year 2019 alone, its members completed over 58 million Peloton workouts.
`
`Peloton makes fitness entertaining, approachable, effective and convenient while fostering social
`
`connections that encourage its members to be the best versions of themselves. Peloton delivered
`
`its first bikes (the “Peloton Bike”) in 2014 and received near-universal adulation, with Men’s
`
`Health naming the Bike “the best cardio machine on the planet,” and fitness experts hailing it as
`
`“revolutionary,” and “category creating.” Peloton currently employs more than 1,900 people
`
`across the country.
`
`2.
`
`The Peloton Bike is the first ever at-home exercise bike that incorporates a
`
`sophisticated graphical user interface—presented on a 22-inch HD, multitouch tablet—that
`
`displays live and on-demand cycling classes led by some of the world’s best instructors. The
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 2 of 51 PageID #: 2
`
`
`
`Peloton Bike uses sensors to measure a rider’s performance and can display a dynamically-
`
`updating leaderboard comparing the rider’s performance at each point in the class with the
`
`performance of every other rider that is currently taking—or has ever taken—the same class,
`
`anywhere in the world. This “leaderboard” utilizes Peloton’s patented technology to show
`
`Peloton riders how their performance stacks up against all other riders that have taken that same
`
`class, past and present, at every point during a class.
`
`3.
`
`Before Peloton invented and released the Peloton Bike, the fitness industry had
`
`struggled with an intractable divide: consumers could either (1) go to in-studio fitness classes to
`
`obtain the competitive thrill and engagement of working out with others, or (2) choose to use at-
`
`home exercise equipment—which had seen virtually zero innovation in over a decade—to gain
`
`flexibility and time. They could never do both. Peloton solved that problem, and others, with its
`
`revolutionary new product and patented technology.
`
`4.
`
`First, Peloton solved the biggest problem associated with in-studio and in-person
`
`exercise classes—that they are offered only at fixed locations and times—by allowing users to
`
`bring that experience into their own home and on their own schedule. Second, Peloton solved
`
`the biggest problem associated with previous at-home fitness products—user boredom due to
`
`lack of engagement, community, and class variety—by providing live and on-demand classes
`
`with a leaderboard on an improved and more efficient graphical user interface that not only
`
`recreates but significantly enhances the real-time competition and community engagement that
`
`made in-person and in-studio classes so popular.
`
`5.
`
`To protect these and other innovations incorporated into the Peloton Bike and the
`
`Peloton Tread (Peloton’s acclaimed treadmill, released in 2018), Peloton CEO John Foley and
`
`Peloton applied for, and received, multiple patents, including U.S. Patent No. 10,486,026 (“the
`
`
`
`
`2
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 3 of 51 PageID #: 3
`
`
`
`’026 Patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 10,639,521 (“the ’521 Patent,” and together with the ’026
`
`Patent, “the Peloton Patents”), which are at issue in this lawsuit.
`
`6.
`
`With Peloton’s hard-fought success, competitors, including Defendant ICON,
`
`have attempted to free ride off Peloton’s innovative technology. Historically, ICON has sold
`
`traditional fitness equipment, and it develops and manufactures exercise equipment (including
`
`stationary bikes and treadmills) under the brand names NordicTrack, Proform, and FreeMotion
`
`(collectively, the “ICON products”).
`
`7.
`
`For years, ICON sought to drum up interest in the ICON products with iFit—a
`
`functionality encompassing a simplistic suite of fitness offerings designed to operate on, or in
`
`tandem with, ICON products. Prior to the actions giving rise to this suit, iFit never delivered live
`
`classes—i.e., classes taught by instructors and streamed to users’ devices in substantially real
`
`time—or offered its members the ability to participate in competitive classes via a leaderboard.
`
`Instead, iFit only allowed subscribers to follow along with pre-recorded exercise classes on their
`
`machines, without any sort of community engagement. Although ICON apparently intended for
`
`iFit to boost consumer enthusiasm and sales of its products, its actions demonstrate it was not
`
`able to reach its goal. Indeed, in July of 2015, just one year after the launch of the successful
`
`Peloton Bike, ICON announced that it was laying off 400 workers at the Utah plant where it
`
`manufactures much of its equipment.
`
`8.
`
`In 2019, Peloton became the unquestioned leader in at-home fitness and continued
`
`to achieve lightning-fast growth as it went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in September
`
`2019. By that point, it had become clear to the market that consumers were tired of the same
`
`boring, at-home fitness equipment that had languished in basements for decades—like the ICON
`
`
`
`
`3
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 4 of 51 PageID #: 4
`
`
`
`products—and instead wanted the revolutionary new “connected” community fitness experience
`
`that Peloton offered through its patented technology.
`
`9.
`
`Faced with this grim reality, the very same month as Peloton’s IPO, ICON
`
`announced that it would be releasing a so-called new feature: “the iFit leaderboard,” which was
`
`nothing more than the Peloton leaderboard grafted onto an iFit interface. On September 27,
`
`2019, ICON published a picture on The Official iFit Member Facebook page making clear that
`
`rather than investing in its own technology and innovating from the ground up—as Peloton had
`
`done—ICON would simply copy Peloton’s patented leaderboard technology. Shortly thereafter,
`
`ICON announced that it had raised $200 million in venture capital to help “accelerate” the
`
`integration of its copycat technology into ICON’s products. As media outlets like Axiom
`
`recognized at the time, ICON’s actions were plainly intended to allow it to “compete with
`
`Peloton,” and reflected “how home fitness companies and their investors keep moving toward
`
`the Peloton model….”
`
`10.
`
`Then, in January of 2020, ICON launched an expensive, glossy video ad
`
`campaign for a new Peloton Bike copycat product that ICON calls the NordicTrack S22i Studio
`
`Cycle Bike. That ad, entitled “The Duel,” shows two actors riding their NordicTrack bikes at the
`
`same time and competing against each other for a higher position on the iFit leaderboard. The
`
`iFit leaderboard ICON advertised in “The Duel,” shown on the NordicTrack S22i Studio Cycle
`
`Bike, is an almost exact copy of Peloton’s leaderboard.
`
`11.
`
`Astoundingly, ICON did not stop there: it introduced Peloton’s patented
`
`technology across all ICON products with iFit functionality1—including not only stationary
`
`
`1The list of infringing ICON products include the following: Proform Carbon T7 Treadmill,
`Proform Carbon CX Bike, Proform Studio Bike Limited, Proform 759R Rower, NordicTrack
`
`
`
`
`
`4
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 5 of 51 PageID #: 5
`
`
`
`bikes and treadmills, but also rowers, ellipticals, and high-intensity interval training machines. It
`
`also advertised for sale exercise systems that, among other things, detect, synchronize and
`
`compare the exercise metrics of remote users on a graphical user interface, just like Peloton.
`
`12.
`
`ICON, and ICON products with iFit functionality, infringe the Peloton Patents
`
`because, among other reasons, they display archived exercise class content to remote users, track
`
`a remote user’s performance, and compare that remote user’s performance against the
`
`performance of other remote users via a time-synced leaderboard. Critically, ICON is profiting
`
`immensely from this infringement; indeed, in March 2020, ICON’s Chief Executive Officer told
`
`the Wall Street Journal that its recent sales were up over 200%. And in May 2020, ICON’s
`
`President reported to the New York Times that it was experiencing sales that were “absolutely
`
`bigger than any other boom time we’ve had.”
`
`13.
`
`Having discovered just how lucrative it was to mimic Peloton, ICON doubled
`
`down on its unlawful scheme. In May 2020, ICON set its sights on yet another Peloton
`
`innovation—live classes with a real-time leaderboard—and decided that it would copy this
`
`aspect of the Peloton experience, as well. In all its years of existence, ICON had never offered
`
`live classes on iFit. Yet in early May 2020, on the heels of its copycat leaderboard roll-out,
`
`ICON enabled live classes on iFit for users operating ICON bikes and treadmills. ICON’s
`
`introduction of live classes and the leaderboard is calculated to perfect its theft of market share
`
`from Peloton, who has set the standard for both technologies in the at-home fitness space.
`
`
`Commercial X321 Incline Trainer, NordicTrack T 9.5 S Treadmill, NordicTrack 8.5 S Treadmill,
`NordicTrack Commercial S22i Studio Cycle, NordicTrack Commercial S15i Studio Cycle,
`NordicTrack FS10i Elliptical, NordicTrack Fusion CST Pro, NordicTrack Fusion CST Pro with
`Rower, NordicTrack RW900 Rower, NordicTrack RW500 Rower, Freemotion T10.9b Reflex
`Treadmill, Freemotion E10.9b Elliptical and Freemotion R10.96b Recumbent Bike. Upon
`information and belief, each of these products became available for public purchase after May
`22, 2017.
`
`
`
`
`5
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 6 of 51 PageID #: 6
`
`
`
`14.
`
`As if its patent infringement were not enough, ICON has additionally engaged in
`
`an unlawful false advertising campaign to further undercut Peloton’s business. Specifically, to
`
`unfairly increase its market share, ICON employs a practice known as false reference pricing.
`
`Pursuant to this practice, ICON represents to consumers a false, inflated “original” price of a
`
`product, and then informs consumers that the product is currently on sale for a significantly
`
`lower, discount price. This false and deceptive practice misleads consumers into making
`
`purchases of products which they were led to believe were of a higher quality, and unlawfully
`
`diverts sales away from competitors who truthfully advertise their products, like Peloton.
`
`Peloton is uniquely harmed by ICON’s unlawful and unfair conduct because ICON has
`
`repeatedly advertised itself as an alternative to Peloton and directly sought to compare its
`
`offerings to Peloton’s.
`
`15.
`
`Peloton brings this suit to protect its rights and put an end to ICON’s patent
`
`infringement, false advertising, and deceptive business practices.
`
`THE PARTIES
`
`16.
`
`Peloton is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of
`
`Delaware, with its principal place of business at 125 West 25th Street, 11th Floor, New York,
`
`New York, 10001.
`
`17.
`
`ICON is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of
`
`Delaware. ICON’s principal place of business is at 1500 South 1000 West, Logan, Utah, 84321.
`
`ICON sells its products online and through third-party retailers all across the United States, and
`
`additionally operates an outlet store in California, located at 630 Nicholas Road, Beaumont, CA
`
`92223.
`
`
`
`
`6
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 7 of 51 PageID #: 7
`
`
`
`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
`
`18.
`
`Certain claims in this civil action arise under the patent laws of the United States,
`
`35 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the patent claims pursuant
`
`to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338. Certain claims in this civil action also arise under the Lanham
`
`Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the Lanham Act claims
`
`pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1121 and under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338. Subject matter jurisdiction
`
`over related state law claims is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1338 and 1367. The state law
`
`claims are integrally interrelated with Peloton’s federal claims and arise from a common nucleus
`
`of operative facts such that the administration of the state law claims with the federal claims
`
`furthers the interest of judicial economy.
`
`19.
`
`This Court has personal jurisdiction over ICON pursuant to the laws of the State
`
`of Delaware and the United States Constitution because ICON is a Delaware corporation. ICON
`
`also regularly and continuously transacts business in the jurisdiction, including marketing and
`
`selling ICON services and products throughout the State of Delaware. ICON places infringing
`
`products within the stream of commerce, which stream is directed at this district, with knowledge
`
`and/or understanding that those products will be sold in the State of Delaware. ICON has also
`
`disseminated false and misleading information in the State of Delaware about its products and
`
`services as part of its false advertising campaign.
`
`20.
`
`ICON has infringed or caused infringement in the State of Delaware by, among
`
`other things, promoting, offering for sale and selling infringing ICON products with iFit
`
`functionality in the District. ICON also provides services and assembles products that are and
`
`have been used, offered for sale, sold, and purchased in the State of Delaware. Therefore, the
`
`
`
`
`7
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 8 of 51 PageID #: 8
`
`
`
`exercise of jurisdiction over ICON is appropriate under the applicable jurisdictional statutes and
`
`would not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.
`
`21.
`
`Venue is proper for claims of patent infringement in this district under 28 U.S.C.
`
`§§ 1391(b) & (c) and 1400(b) because ICON is incorporated in the State of Delaware and has
`
`committed, and continues to commit, acts of patent infringement within the district.
`
`22.
`
`ICON actively markets and sells ICON products with iFit functionality to
`
`customers across the United States, including in the District of Delaware.
`
`23.
`
`ICON intends to and does advertise, demonstrate, offer for sale, and sell the
`
`infringing products and services to customers in the District of Delaware. ICON intends for
`
`customers to use the infringing products with iFit functionality within the District of Delaware.
`
`FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
`
`I. Disrupting the Fitness Category with the Peloton Bike
`
`24.
`
`Unlike the at-home bikes that came before it, the Peloton Bike is a sleek,
`
`technologically advanced system that combines a first-in-class exercise bike with state-of-the-art
`
`technology that allows riders to experience live and on-demand cycling classes—led by some of
`
`the world’s best instructors—from the comfort of their own homes.
`
`25.
`
`Featuring a 22-inch, high-definition, sweat resistant, multitouch tablet, the
`
`Peloton Bike measures and displays a rider’s performance metrics and presents those metrics for
`
`live and time-synced comparison with other Peloton riders. This new technology allows Peloton
`
`riders to see where their performance stands against all other riders on a leaderboard throughout
`
`the cycling class, re-creating the energetic and competitive in-studio cycling experience at home
`
`on their own schedule.
`
`
`
`
`8
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 9 of 51 PageID #: 9
`
`
`
`26.
`
`In fact, not only does Peloton recreate the in-studio experience in the user’s own
`
`home, it significantly improves it. To illustrate the unprecedented user experience Peloton
`
`created, a rider taking a regular in-studio class may (at best) see his or her performance
`
`compared only against the other riders in the same class at the same time, whereas the same rider
`
`taking a class on a Peloton Bike can see his or her performance compared, at every point in the
`
`class, against tens of thousands (for a live class) or even hundreds of thousands (for an on-
`
`demand class) of other riders from around the world, regardless of when the rider takes the class.
`
`27.
`
`Further, Peloton’s leaderboard allows each user to filter and control who they see
`
`on the leaderboard by a variety of characteristics, including age and gender. Peloton’s
`
`leaderboard also enables filtering by “All Time,” which allows the user to participate against all
`
`users who have ever taken the same class, or by “Here Now,” which displays only those users
`
`who are presently attending the same class at another remote location.
`
`28.
`
`In addition, Peloton allows its users to interact with other remote users during a
`
`class, for example, by giving a virtual “high five” to another user, encouraging a friend via live
`
`video chat, or, with one touch, saving a song heard in class to their favorite streaming service.
`
`These features are not available (nor would they be useful) for in-studio-only cycling classes.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Above: The Peloton Bike
`
`
`
`
`9
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 10 of 51 PageID #: 10
`
`Above: The Peloton Bike Graphical User Interface and Leaderboard
`
`
`
`Above: Peloton Leaderboard Filters – “All Time” and “Here Now”
`
`
`
`10
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 11 of 51 PageID #: 11
`
`
`
`29.
`
`Peloton’s success has been remarkable. Men’s Health has called the Peloton Bike
`
`“the best cardio machine on the planet.” USA Today has said it is “attractive, addictive, and
`
`seriously whips you into shape.” And in a comparison of numerous at-home bikes, The Wall
`
`Street Journal concluded that “the best bike, by far, was [the] Peloton.” The Peloton Bike also
`
`received the award for the Best Health and Fitness Device at the Consumer Electronics Show in
`
`2018.
`
`30.
`
`The Peloton Bike retails for $2,245, and owners pay $39 per month for a
`
`subscription to Peloton’s exclusive live and on-demand exercise classes.
`
`31.
`
`As of March 31, 2020, Peloton has built its member base from zero to over 2.6
`
`million in six years. Its revenue has been growing rapidly as a result. For example, in fiscal year
`
`2017, Peloton’s revenue shot to over $200 million, and in fiscal year 2018, revenue doubled to
`
`over $400 million. In fiscal year 2019, its revenue more than doubled again to approximately
`
`$900 million. In the last quarter alone (ending March 31, 2020), Peloton generated $524.6
`
`million in revenue, representing 66% year-over-year growth. Peloton has also won countless
`
`awards, including being named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast
`
`Company every year since 2016.
`
`32.
`
`Peloton continues to expand both nationally and internationally. Most
`
`importantly, Peloton is doing what it set out to do—allowing more people than ever to participate
`
`in high-energy, state-of-the-art exercise classes on their own schedule, and empowering Peloton
`
`users to maximize their most valuable resource: time.
`
`II. The Journey to Inventing the Peloton Bike
`
`33. When Peloton was founded, fitness studios that provided studio cycling classes
`
`were becoming tremendously popular. SoulCycle and Flywheel had multiple studios and were
`
`
`
`
`11
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 12 of 51 PageID #: 12
`
`
`
`growing quickly. While such in-studio classes provide a great consumer experience, they start at
`
`predetermined times, have limited space per class, and may meet at inconvenient locations for
`
`some customers. As a result, in-studio classes can be hard to attend for people with busy work
`
`schedules and families at home. Peloton CEO John Foley was one of those people.
`
`34.
`
`After realizing that countless others undoubtedly faced the same challenge, Foley
`
`began a journey that would see him and his co-founders invent a new category of fitness
`
`equipment that provides the immersive, fun and competitive in-studio cycling class experience,
`
`at home, at any time.
`
`35.
`
`Having majored in industrial engineering at Georgia Tech and studied business at
`
`Harvard Business School, Foley then worked in e-commerce and the tech industry for over a
`
`decade. This gave him a sophisticated understanding of the intersection of business and
`
`technology. Foley also realized that this project would require a team of smart, savvy leaders in
`
`different fields to bring it to consumers, and he therefore started recruiting other tech leaders who
`
`shared his vision.
`
`36.
`
`In September 2011, Foley shared his vision with Hans Woolley, co-inventor of
`
`the Peloton Patents, at a conference for media executives in Sun Valley, Utah. The two bounced
`
`ideas back and forth during the weekend conference and began planning next steps shortly after
`
`arriving home from the conference.
`
`37.
`
`Foley also approached his friend and former colleague Tom Cortese. Over dinner
`
`one night in December 2011, Foley told Cortese that he believed there was a large, untapped
`
`market available if they could just figure out how to allow cycling fans to access the best
`
`instructors and have an in-studio cycling class experience at any time, no matter where they live
`
`
`
`
`12
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 13 of 51 PageID #: 13
`
`
`
`and no matter how busy their schedules are. Cortese joined and has been with Peloton ever
`
`since, currently serving as Peloton’s Chief Operating Officer.
`
`38.
`
`Foley also recruited three others, whom he asked to join as co-founders of
`
`Peloton: technology guru Yony Feng, to help design and build a prototype Peloton Bike;
`
`accomplished lawyer Hisao Kushi, to guide Peloton through the legal and regulatory framework
`
`facing the new start-up; and internet executive Graham Stanton, to help guide the company
`
`through its early years and to manage the company’s finances and growth strategy. All accepted,
`
`and all three remain involved with the company to this day. Feng is Peloton’s Chief Technology
`
`Officer; Kushi is Chief Legal Officer; and Stanton still advises Peloton in a consulting capacity.
`
`39. With a strong team in place, Foley was able to raise an initial seed investment of
`
`$350,000, along with $50,000 of Foley’s own savings. This allowed the young start-up to rent a
`
`small office in New York City from which it could develop and create the first prototype of the
`
`Peloton Bike.
`
`40.
`
`To create the product that Foley and his co-founders envisioned, Peloton
`
`developed (1) a visually appealing, sturdy, and technologically advanced exercise bike; (2) a
`
`large, sweatproof, wi-fi enabled, high-definition touchscreen tablet computer; (3) an attractive
`
`graphical user interface and related software and backend systems to integrate the bike and tablet
`
`and track, synchronize, and dynamically display metrics to connect a community of riders; and
`
`(4) first-in-class cycling class content and the systems to deliver that content. All equipment
`
`needed to be durable, lasting for years of use with minimal maintenance.
`
`41.
`
`Start-ups often partner with existing companies and products to custom build as
`
`little as possible. Building one’s own hardware and software from the ground up, by contrast, is
`
`expensive, time-consuming, and fraught with obstacles, known and unknown. However, Peloton
`
`
`
`
`13
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 14 of 51 PageID #: 14
`
`
`
`quickly discovered that no existing exercise bike had all the required characteristics: sturdiness,
`
`durability, visual appeal, efficiency, and technological capability. Nor was there any touchscreen
`
`tablet available on the market at the time that would suit its needs. In addition, Peloton realized
`
`that no existing products could communicate with the bike hardware, or track and analyze rider
`
`performance in the way they envisioned. In short, the Peloton team quickly realized that it
`
`would need to create virtually the entire Peloton Bike from scratch, including the bike, tablet,
`
`and software.
`
`42. What’s more, to effectuate its vision of immersive studio cycling at home, Peloton
`
`also needed to figure out how to integrate the hardware (the bike and tablet) with its own
`
`software so that the software could communicate with the bike to track performance metrics,
`
`store those metrics, communicate those metrics back to the rider, and transfer those metrics to a
`
`server so that they could be synchronized and compared with other riders’ metrics.
`
`43.
`
`The technological challenges and unknowns faced by the Peloton team also
`
`created a significant financial hurdle. Investors viewed Peloton’s plan to build its own hardware
`
`and software as too costly and difficult, and were not convinced there was a viable market for the
`
`product or that the technology would work. Dozens of investors declined the opportunity to
`
`invest in Peloton because they were not willing to take the risk of investing up front in such a
`
`new and challenging endeavor.
`
`44.
`
`Yet, through research, ingenuity, and persistence, Peloton pushed on, working
`
`with two core manufacturing partners to design and produce the necessary high-tech, sleek bikes
`
`and tablets. To build the first prototype, Feng, the Chief Technology Officer then and now,
`
`created a proof-of-concept apparatus using a standard off-the-shelf stationary bike, then attaching
`
`sensors with a stripped-down electronics board running the Android-based app that he developed
`
`
`
`
`14
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 15 of 51 PageID #: 15
`
`
`
`and a computer monitor rigged to the bike’s front. As reflected in the images below, Feng went
`
`through a long, iterative process to develop a successful hardware-software integration.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Above: Testing the software with an early version of Peloton Bike
`
`The early version of the Peloton Bike, left, compared with the version at launch, right:
`
`
`
`15
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 16 of 51 PageID #: 16
`
`
`
`The progression of hardware-software integration development for the Peloton Bike:
`
`45.
`
`This unique hardware-software integration would be the basis for Peloton’s
`
`prototype. By the end of 2012, after a year of hard work, investment, and development, Peloton
`
`finally had a prototype in hand to show investors.
`
`46.
`
`But even after the Peloton Bike prototype was created, Peloton struggled to raise
`
`money. Foley was rejected by countless investment firms and was repeatedly told that the
`
`Peloton Bike simply was not viable.
`
`47.
`
`Yet, despite these repeated rejections, Foley persisted—continuing to take risks,
`
`making significant personal investments, and dedicating more time to developing the best
`
`possible product. He did so because of his belief that at-home fitness equipment simply had not
`
`
`
`
`16
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 17 of 51 PageID #: 17
`
`
`
`evolved at the same pace that group exercise classes had. He continued to pitch potential
`
`investors until, many rejections later, he found a group of investors who believed in Peloton and
`
`invested the first $10 million that helped launch the Peloton Bike on a commercial scale.
`
`III. Bringing the Peloton Bike to Market
`
`48.
`
`After additional troubleshooting and tinkering on the early prototype bikes,
`
`Peloton was ready to take the important step of manufacturing the bike and selling it to its first
`
`customers. Peloton held a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising enough capital to start
`
`manufacturing the bike. As Peloton explained, “[t]his involves building the ‘tools’ required to
`
`create each unique part (yes, we first have to build the machinery that will build the bike!) and
`
`pre-purchasing lots of steel, aluminum, plastic, microchips (there are 17 in our console alone).”
`
`The Kickstarter campaign raised more than $300,000 and generated initial orders for 188 bikes.
`
`49.
`
`Sales were initially slow—188 bikes was far from Peloton’s target, and far from
`
`the demand Foley knew existed. Peloton was a new product, and people were wary of the
`
`product and how useful it would be. Like every other phase of their journey, Peloton was not
`
`going to become successful overnight—they were going to have to work for it. With intensive
`
`and creative marketing efforts, including pop-up stores in choice locations, and as word of mouth
`
`spread, sales began to pick up.
`
`50.
`
`In January 2014, two years after Peloton was founded, the first bikes were
`
`delivered to customers.
`
`51.
`
`By now, Peloton has designed in-house almost everything that other companies
`
`outsource to third parties: hardware, software, content, and logistics. As an Inc.com article
`
`reported, “Peloton has defied every aspect of the prevailing startup ethos of doing it fast and
`
`lean, buying off the shelf, partnering and, above all, custom-building as little as possible.”
`
`
`
`
`17
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 18 of 51 PageID #: 18
`
`
`
`IV. Continued Innovation with the Peloton Tread
`
`52.
`
`Encouraged by the groundswell of consumer support for the Peloton Bike, Foley
`
`and the Peloton team wasted no time in bringing the Peloton experience to a new platform. In
`
`2016, Peloton began developing a treadmill. The finished product, called the Peloton Tread, was
`
`introduced to the public in 2018.
`
`53.
`
`The Peloton Tread is a natural extension of the Peloton Bike. Like the Peloton
`
`Bike, the Peloton Tread is a sophisticated, internet-integrated exercise system that combines a
`
`state-of-the-art treadmill featuring a customized, low-impact, shock-absorbing slat belt, with
`
`Peloton’s patented interactive technology, allowing users to experience engaging live and on-
`
`demand classes with others from the comfort of their own homes.
`
`54. With its immersive, 32-inch full high-definition, sweat resistant tablet and a 20
`
`watt soundbar, the Peloton Tread was designed to maximize and enhance the ultra-realistic,
`
`competition-based, and interactive user interface that people have come to associate with the
`
`Peloton experience. Just like on the Peloton Bike, the patented technology on the Peloton Tread
`
`allows users to participate in exercise classes led by world-renowned fitness experts and view, on
`
`a dynamically-updating leaderboard, how their performance stands, at any given point in a class,
`
`against all other users who have taken the class, past or present.
`
`55. With the Peloton Tread, Peloton dramatically reconceptualized the limits of
`
`traditional treadmills in two ways. First, Peloton found a way to turn exercising on a treadmill—
`
`usually a solitary enterprise—into a class form with competition. While competitive running has
`
`long existed in the form of outdoor or indoor races, Peloton was the first to implement
`
`competitive running on at-home treadmills by offering live and on-demand classes with a
`
`leaderboard. Prior to the Peloton Tread, it was not well-known for treadmills to offer a
`
`
`
`
`18
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:20-cv-00662-UNA Document 1 Filed 05/15/20 Page 19 of 51 PageID #: 19
`
`
`
`leaderboard or comparative display enabling multiple users to see, at every point during the run,
`
`how their performance compares to all the other runners that have experienced, or are presently
`
`experiencing, the same class.
`
`56.
`
`Second, the Peloton Tread also reimagined the types of workout classes that can
`
`be adapted for a treadmill. In addition to classes conducted entirely on the machine, the Peloton
`
`Tread offers a panoply of high-energy, instructor-led bootcamp and circuit training