This video is Bevel's official response to a lawsuit filed against them by competitor Whoop. Bevel contends that Whoop's claims of trademark dress, copyright, and patent infringement are baseless — and that if anything, it was Whoop that copied Bevel's design. They frame the lawsuit as an unfair attack by a large company on a small innovator, and a threat to the broader value of open access to health data. Bevel declares it will fight back.

1. Whoop Files Suit — Bevel Responds 😲

Bevel recently received a 111-page complaint from Whoop. Whoop alleges that Bevel infringed their trade dress, copyright, and patents.

• Trade dress refers to the claim that Bevel copied the "look and feel" of the Whoop app to such a degree that potential customers could mistake Bevel's app for Whoop's. As Bevel explains: "They claim we've sufficiently imitated the look and feel of the Whoop app such that Whoop's prospective customers could confuse the Bevel app for Whoop."
• Copyright protects Whoop's code. Whoop claims that Bevel's UI is "substantially similar" to the UI generated by Whoop's code.
• On the patent claims, Bevel says these are highly technical, and since they can't share details about their app's inner workings, they won't address those here.

Bevel emphasizes that this video is not a plea for sympathy — it's about sharing their side of the story and explaining why they believe they are in the right.

"Hey everyone. As you may have heard, we've been sued by Whoop. In their 111-page complaint, they allege that we've infringed their trade dress, copyright, and patents. For those unfamiliar with trade dress, they're claiming we've sufficiently imitated the look and feel of the Whoop app such that Whoop's prospective customers could mistake the Bevel app for Whoop. Whoop's copyright covers their code. So they're claiming that the Bevel UI is substantially similar to the UI generated by their code."

"Before diving in, this video is not a plea for sympathy. We simply want to share our perspective and explain why we believe this is the right thing to do."

2. From Partnership Outreach to Cease-and-Desist 😠

Bevel described an unusual shift in their relationship with Whoop. In June 2024, two Whoop employees reached out to Bevel expressing interest in exploring a potential partnership.

One employee sent the following cordial message:

"Hope this message finds you well. My name is [name] and I lead corporate development at Whoop. In doing research, I believe you and Ben are building superset/bubble, and I've been following your journey and impressive growth with great interest. Your work in athletic performance and wellness is inspiring and thought-provoking. Given our shared commitment to advancing performance through cutting-edge technology, I believe there may be valuable collaboration opportunities between our companies. I'd love to connect with you and learn more about Bevel's vision, team, and future goals. I'm also keen to explore how we can leverage our respective strengths to drive mutual success. Please let me know a convenient time to chat — I'm flexible and can accommodate your schedule."

At the time, Bevel was only six months old and felt they didn't have the resources to engage in that kind of conversation, so they declined.

About five months later, Whoop sent a cease-and-desist letter making nearly identical claims to those in the current lawsuit. Bevel says they were blindsided — a company that had offered collaboration was now threatening them.

3. Whoop's Demands and Bevel's Rebuttal 🛡️

Whoop demanded that Bevel disable dark mode and rename the words "strain" and "recovery".

• Bevel refused the renaming demand, arguing that "strain" and "recovery" are common, functional words and that Whoop has no basis to claim trademark ownership over such basic terms.
• On dark mode: Whoop's app is dark-mode only, but Bevel's app defaults to light mode — users must manually switch to dark mode. Every screenshot Whoop provided showed Bevel's app in dark mode. Bevel argued that dark mode is a widely used feature for reducing eye strain and limiting blue light exposure, and declined this demand as well.

Bevel's lawyers spent months exchanging correspondence with Whoop's counsel, explaining why the claims were unfounded and the demands unacceptable. Around May 2025, Whoop went silent, and Bevel assumed the matter was resolved. Then, about two weeks before this video, Whoop filed suit in the District of Delaware without warning.

4. On the Similarity Claims: Who Actually Copied Whom? 🤔

Whoop's lawsuit centers on trade dress and copyright. Bevel systematically rebutted each claim.

4.1. Home Screen Design

Whoop claims Bevel's home screen is similar to theirs based on:

• Ring usage: Both apps display "the user's strain and recovery scores near the top of the screen using rings."
• Colorful circular bars: Both use "colorful circular bars that increase clockwise as the user's strain or recovery score increases."
• Coaching feature: Both feature "a coaching feature in a rounded rectangular box spanning the full width of the UI with white text."
• Dark background: Both use a "dark gray/black background."

Bevel's response:

• Bevel's app is not dark mode by default. 🤨
• These descriptions apply to most apps. Displaying health data with rings and circular bars is a common convention.

More strikingly, Whoop's complaint states that "Bevel's updated home screen, like its prior home screen, is confusingly similar to Whoop's home screen."

But Bevel argues they never updated their home screen — rather, Whoop updated theirs to look more like Bevel's. Bevel has always displayed three rings side by side, and adopted that layout before Whoop did. Comments on Whoop's home screen update even included remarks like: "The new Whoop home screen now looks exactly like Bevel. At least they're copying the best." 😮

4.2. Sleep Page Design

Whoop claims Bevel's sleep page is "confusingly similar" to theirs, citing these features:

1. Colorful line graph showing heart rate during sleep and total sleep time.
2. Bedtime and wake-up time displayed in white text at the lower-left and lower-right of the line graph.
3. Crescent moon icon to represent sleep.
4. Four rounded rectangles with colorful bars representing time spent in each sleep stage.
5. Sleep stage percentages displayed inside each rectangle.
6. Shaded areas and lines above each bar indicating typical range for each sleep stage.
7. Typical range and duration labels shown at the lower corners below the line graph.
8. Overlay on line graph matching the color of the selected sleep type.

Bevel's point-by-point rebuttal:

1. Bevel does not use a colorful line graph — it uses a sleep stage chart.
2. Showing bedtime and wake-up time as text labels on a sleep chart is a common way to mark axes.
3. A crescent moon icon is a common symbol for sleep-related views.
4. Bevel uses circular gauges, not rounded rectangles.
5. Displaying the percentage of time spent in each sleep stage is a common way to present this information, whether using gauges or boxes.
6. Showing a user's sleep percentages on a graph is standard practice.
7. Labeling typical ranges is equally standard.
8. Bevel does not use color-matched overlays on its line graph for sleep stages.

Bevel noted that a careful look at the screenshots Whoop submitted actually reveals how different the two apps are — and deadpanned that Whoop's lawyers apparently didn't scrutinize their own evidence. 😅

4.3. Journal Feature

Whoop claimed Bevel copied their journal feature, but Bevel countered that Whoop mistakenly used a screenshot of their journal settings view rather than the journal view itself.

Furthermore, Bevel pointed out that Whoop updated their own journal view to include a date carousel at the top — very similar to Bevel's — and that this resemblance appeared only after Whoop's update, not the other way around.

"Even if these claims were true, the ultimate question for trade dress is whether Whoop's prospective customers would mistake us for Whoop. Our marketing materials make this very clear, because we don't sell hardware, and we've never seen anyone mistake us for Whoop."

5. Whoop's Pressure Campaign: Advisors Pushed Out 💔

Bevel revealed that Whoop's pressure went beyond the courtroom.

In August 2024, Bevel announced that three advisors were joining the company. Within a week of the announcement, one of the advisors emailed Bevel to say their lab — which had ties to Whoop — had been pressured to step back from Bevel or risk losing their working relationship with Whoop.

"In August 2024, we announced that three advisors would be joining Bevel. Within a week of that announcement, one of them emailed me saying that his lab, which has a relationship with Whoop, needed to step back. Not him — his lab. And they pressured him to distance himself from Bevel, or they would not continue their work together."

Three months later, another advisor suddenly resigned. When asked why, they said they couldn't explain. Months later, when Whoop 5.0 launched, that same advisor was credited as having helped develop it — making the reason plain. Bevel expressed deep confusion about the situation.

6. The Real Motive: Bullying a Smaller Competitor? 💰

Bevel notes that they don't sell wearable hardware and see all wearable companies — including Garmin and Oura — as partners whose devices they actively support on their platform. They tried to contact Whoop's CEO Will directly to discuss the matter rationally, but Whoop responded through its general counsel that they were "only interested in communicating through lawyers."

Bevel questions why Whoop waited more than a year and a half before filing suit. They point to Whoop's recent fundraise of over $500 million, suggesting that this windfall may have emboldened Whoop to pursue "lawfare."

Bevel frames this as bigger than just their own dispute:

"This lawsuit isn't just about us. It's about the fact that sometimes large companies may think they can bully smaller ones."

They argue that a company confident in its product doesn't need to rely on litigation — products and innovation should speak for themselves. Bevel says they have spent the past two years working tirelessly to make health tracking accessible to everyone, and they believe health data should not be locked to a single device. Many of their users rotate between multiple devices — Apple Watch during the day, a Garmin during endurance training, Oura for sleep or dressier occasions — and Bevel sees this lawsuit as an unfair attempt to restrict that open access.

"We've spent the last two years tirelessly working to make health tracking accessible to everyone. We believe your health data should not be locked to a single device. In fact, many of our users switch between multiple devices throughout the day. You might want to wear your Apple Watch during the day, your Garmin watch during endurance training, and your Oura ring while sleeping or when you want to look a little fancier."

"If you're confident in your product, you don't need to resort to legal battles. Products and innovation should speak for themselves."

7. Closing: Bevel's Resolve 💪

Bevel says they have been preparing for this fight and are confident in their defense. They stress that this is not the end of Bevel — major updates are coming, and they are just getting started.

"We've been preparing, and we're confident in our defense. This is not the end of Bevel. There's a major update coming soon, and we're just getting started."