AusLeisure

A four year legal battle between F45 and Body Fit Training in the Federal Court of Australia has been concluded today with a ruling in favour of BFT.

The legal action, in which F45 alleged Body Fit Training (BFT) had infringed one of its patents, was dismissed by Justice Nicholas, who ordered that the patents be revoked and that F45 should pay BFT's legal costs.

F45 - founded in Australia by Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch, and now backed by Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg and listed on the USA’s Dow Jones index - involved alleged innovation patent infringements relating to the management of each group’s franchises through a central computer system.

A spokesperson for BFT said the orders did not set a precedent for a parallel legal case before the US Courts but that it may influence the result.

Following the ruling, BFT founder and joint Chief Executive Cameron Falloon and joint Chief Executive, Richard Burnet released a combined statement advising "we are thrilled that the Federal Court in Australia has ruled in favour of BFT against F45.

"The Federal Court has determined that both of F45’s innovation patents are invalid and that, even if those patents were valid, BFT did not infringe them in any event.

"Thank you to our franchisees, members, industry partners and Xponential Fitness for their unwavering support, belief and trust in our brand.

"We look forward to continuing to offer a different and better product, as Australia’s fastest growing fitness franchise.”

One of the key elements of the judgement was that F45’s system is “not patentable” because it “is implemented using generic computing technology”.

In October last year, BFT entered into a $60 million deal to sell its intellectual property to US-based Xponential Fitness Inc.

Click here to view a redacted copy of the judgement.

Images: BFT studio (top) and BFT founder and joint Chief Executive Cameron Falloon (below).

Related Articles

17th January 2022 - Auckland gym gets $12,000 penalty for defying New Zealand’s vaccine mandate

4th January 2022 - Commerce WA highlights new rules regarding fitness memberships

8th December 2021 - Jetts Sydney gym declared insolvent

3rd December 2021 - F45 announces Vive Active acquisition and 24% growth in last quarter

3rd November 2021 - What is driving the financial success of F45, Body Fit Training and Fitstop?

15th October 2021 - Body Fit Training to expand in the USA with $60 million intellectual property sale to Xponential Fitness

8th October 2021 - Federal Court rules against business interruption insurance policy holders in test case on Coronavirus payouts

28th July 2021 - Fitness equipment worth more than $140,000 stolen from Mackay gym

23rd July 2021 - ‘Predatory and exploitative’ Lorna Jane fined $5 million by Federal Court for false COVID-19 prevention claims

20th July 2021 - Central Coast gym owner reported as ignoring NSW COVID-19 lockdown restrictions

16th July 2021 - New York Stock Exchange listing sees F45 valued at more than US$1.5 billion

12th July 2021 - Bankrupt Brisbane gym operator given three-year ban from managing companies

19th May 2021 - Body Fit Training named Asia-Pacific Franchise of the Year at Singapore’s Fit Summit Conference

22nd January 2021 - Body Fit Training founder shares insights into top fitness trends for 2021

21st December 2020 - F45 ends listing plans but keeps up legal action against competitor Body Fit Training

26th November 2020 - Body Fit Training announces exponential growth plan with 50 studios set to open in the next three months

9th October 2020 - Body Fit Training and F45 ramp up legal battle over patents

17th December 2019 - F45 Training takes legal action against Body Fit Training over alleged patent infringement

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.