Vacuum outfits suck on Roomba law suit
 

IRobot, the maker of the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, is suing its rivals for nicking its patented tech.

iRobot filed lawsuits in federal court in Boston against Hoover, Black & Decker, Bobsweep and Bissell Homecare. IRobot said they infringe on several of its patents covering the idea of an autonomous floor-cleaning robot.

“iRobot will not stand by while others offer products that infringe on our intellectual property,” the company said in a statement.

IRobot launched Roomba in 2002 but has faced increased competition from other appliance makers.

Residential robotic vacuums sucked up $1.5 billion in global revenues in 2016, an amount expected to reach $2.5 billion by the end of 2021. The overall market for household vacuums was $12 billion in 2015.

http://www.techeye.net/business/vacu...oomba-law-suit