iRobot settles with Black & Decker
US-based technology company iRobot Corporation has settled its patent quarrel with US manufacturer Black & Decker.
iRobot, the maker of the Roomba line of robot vacuum products, accused Black & Decker of patent infringement back in April at the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
The robot vacuum maker claimed that Black & Decker and Shenzen Silver Star Intelligent Technology (SSSIT) had infringed three patents: US numbers 7,155,308, called “Robot obstacle detection system”; 8,474,090, titled “Autonomous floor-cleaning robot”; and 6,809,490, called “Method and system for multi-mode coverage for an autonomous robot”.
Black & Decker’s BDH5000 robot vacuum cleaner, which is manufactured by SSSIT for Black & Decker, allegedly infringed the patents.
In May, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) agreed to investigate nine companies, including vacuum maker Hoover and Black & Decker, after iRobot had filed a complaint against the companies, accusing them of infringing six patents.
If the ITC finds in favour of iRobot then the companies could be hit with an exclusion order preventing importation of the allegedly infringing products, as well as a cease-and-desist order to stop the sale and marketing of the products in the US.
On Monday, December 18, iRobot announced it had reached a confidential agreement with Black & Decker.
Black & Decker has agreed to discontinue sales of all home robotic vacuums for a certain period of time after selling its existing inventory.
Glen Weinstein, executive vice president and chief legal officer at iRobot, said: “This settlement represents another successful milestone in the enforcement effort iRobot initiated earlier this year.”
As part of the agreement, iRobot will remove Black & Decker from the pending ITC and the Massachusetts cases.
An evidentiary hearing in the ITC investigation is scheduled for March 2018.
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