iRobot Lodges Patent Infringement Suits over Robot Vacuum

View: 2002     Date: 2017-04-21 09:52

Recently, the U.S. well-known consumer robot maker with the Roomba® as its star product, iRobot Corp. lodged lawsuits simultaneously with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against its competitors for infringing a total of six patents, requesting an exclusion order from the ITC.

Multiple consumer robot makers and sellers that may pose threats to iRobot’s leading position in the U.S. market was involved in the lawsuits, especially, including three Chinese mainland companies Shenzhen ZhiYi Technology Co., Ltd., Suzhou Real Power Electric Appliance Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen Silver Star Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., among others.

iRobot puts high value on its products by seeking IP protection on them around the world over the years with over 300 patents granted in the U.S. and a total of more than 900 patents issued worldwide. What’s more, its IP portfolio has always been ranked in the top ten in the electronics field by the IEEE over the past three years. The six patents in the disputes are US6809490 (U.S. patent No.), US8474090, US7155308, US8600553, US9038233 and US9486924, with details as follows:

We may see the depth and breadth of iRobot’s layout on their patent portfolio from the above listed patents for those patents cover not only the core technologies such as robot obstacle-detection systems, multimode cleaning coverage and remote control, but also the physical design of the robot itself. With such valued IP assets in hand, it is no wonder that iRobot started such a war simultaneously towards multiple companies.

At the same time, we did some research and found that the involved three Chinese mainland companies did not hold any patent in the U.S. and is obviously lacking in IP-related preparation. More and more bloody truth tells that IP defense has been crucial to any successful business. As very experienced IP attorneys in China, Leader IP is always ready to give you best advice for protecting you from any IP troubles. If you have any questions in your IP layout home or abroad, please contact us.

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