BEDFORD, Mass., Sept. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iRobot Corp.
(NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in consumer robots and maker of the
Roomba® vacuuming robot, today announced that it has reached a
confidential agreement with Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.
("MSI"), a $3 billion (U.S.)
Taiwanese computer and component manufacturer. The agreement
represents a successful effort by iRobot to defend and protect its
valuable intellectual property. As part of the agreement, MSI
agreed to exit the robotic cleaning industry worldwide and will
compensate iRobot with a confidential monetary payment. The
remaining terms of the settlement are confidential.
"This settlement represents the first successful milestone on
the enforcement effort iRobot initiated earlier this year," said
Glen Weinstein, executive vice
president and chief legal officer at iRobot. "Since being founded
more than 25 years ago, iRobot has made significant investments in
R&D and intellectual property to innovate and bring consumer
robotic technologies to market worldwide. The agreement by MSI to
exit the robotic cleaning industry signifies the value of iRobot's
intellectual property and the company's efforts to protect it."
As part of the agreement, iRobot has agreed to remove the Hoover
Quest 600, 700, and 800 products sold and/or distributed by Hoover,
Inc. from the pending U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC")
investigation No. 337-TA-1057 ("In the Matter of Certain Robotic
Vacuum Cleaning Devices and Components Thereof Such as Spare
Parts") and the United States District Court of Massachusetts Case
No. 1:17-cv-10647. The actions involving the Hoover Quest 1000
product as well as the products from Bissell Homecare, Inc.,
bObsweep, Inc., bObsweep USA, the Black & Decker
Corporation, Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc., Shenzhen ZhiYi
Technology Co., Ltd., Matsutek Enterprises Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen
Silver Star Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd will
proceed. An evidentiary hearing in the ITC investigation is
scheduled for March 2018.
About iRobot Corp.
iRobot, the leading global consumer robot company, designs and
builds robots that empower people to do more both inside and
outside of the home. iRobot created the home robot cleaning
category with the introduction of its Roomba® Vacuuming Robot in
2002. Today, iRobot is a global enterprise that has sold more than
20 million robots worldwide. iRobot's product line, including the
Roomba and the Braava® family of mopping robots, feature
proprietary technologies and advanced concepts in cleaning, mapping
and navigation. iRobot's engineers are building an ecosystem of
robots and data to enable the smart home. For more information
about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com.
View original content with
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/irobot-announces-agreement-with-micro-star-international-in-patent-dispute-300520144.html
SOURCE iRobot Corp.