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iRobot wins lawsuit against Robotic FX
It's been a long, winding, shady road, but the lawsuits between iRobot and Robotic FX are finally over, with a federal court in Massachusetts ruling the Robotic FX had stolen iRobot's trade secrets, and another federal court in Alabama ruling that Robotic FX had infringed on iRobot's patents. In addition, the Massachusetts court ruled that Robotic FX had destroyed evidence and violated fair trade practices. iRobot has agreed to buy "certain residual assets" of Robotic FX, which is dissolving as of today, and founder Jameel Ahed is barred from competing in the robotics industry for five years. iRobot says all this litigation cost the company $2.9 million -- that's some expensive dumpster diving.
iRobot wins injunction against Robotic FX
iRobot's soap-opera-esque trade secret and patent lawsuits against rival Robotic FX entered a new phase last night, as the US District Court in Boston handed down a preliminary injunction preventing Robot FX from acting on a $279M contract to build Negotiator robots for the Department of Defense. Saying that Robotic FX CEO Jameel Ahed's admissions that he'd destroyed evidence "profoundly undermined" his credibility, the judge ruled that there was enough of a likelihood that iRobot would win its trade secret case to warrant an injunction -- the idea being to keep Robotic FX from gaining any benefits from a possible theft. The judge didn't make the exact terms of the injunction public, but she did order a trial to begin no later than April 4 -- which means there's still a lot of drama to come.[Thanks, Jonas]
Intrigue ensues in iRobot vs. Robot FX case
It looks like that iRobot vs. Robot FX lawsuit is turning out to be quite a bit different than the usual patent infringement case, with reports now turning up of key figures in the case making trips to dumpsters and U.S. Marshals seizing data destruction gear. As Xconomy reports, that former tidbit was part of an affidavit filed on August 20th, which stated that a man fitting the description of Jameel Ahed, founder of Robotic FX, was spotted putting a number of items in a dumpster. After the man left, the detectives trailing him checked out the scene, finding a box for a paper shredder, another box with "iRobot" written on it, and a trashed VHS tape labled "IS Robotics SWARM 2000" (IS Robotics being the original name of iRobot), among other items. Shortly after that incident, according to DefenseNews.com, US Marshalls seized some paper shredders at the homes and offices of two Robot FX employees, as well as some devices for erasing hard drives and destroying compact discs. Adding further intrigue to the case is the fact that Robot FX just last week won a major contract with the US military, which sent iRobot's stock down nearly 25%. For its part, Robot FX is denying any wrongdoing, and it's now attempting to get the case consolidated in Massachusetts, a move iRobot opposes. Read - Xconomy, "Dumpster-Diving Detectives and Tales of Industrial Espionage"Read - DefenseNews.com, " Data-Destruction Gear Seized in Robotmakers' Dispute"[Thanks, Tom F]
iRobot sues Robot FX over alleged patent infringement
It looks like Robot FX has run into a bigger obstacle than it's bargained for, with the company now facing not one but two lawsuits from iRobot over alleged patent infringement. Apparently, iRobot thinks that Robot FX's "Negotiator" robot is a little too similar to iRobot's popular Packbot, and it's asking for a permanent injunction to prevent Robot FX from selling any more of the bots, along with the usual damages. Adding further to the intrigue is the fact that Robot FX was founded by a former iRobot employee, who is specifically named in the second lawsuit claiming misappropriation and misuse of confidential information relating to the Packbot. Sadly, it seems that the whole matter will have to be settled in court, and not in a winner-take-all robot death match as we would have hoped.
