Battle Of The Bots: iRobot Sues Rivals

iRobot Corp. (IRBT) is suing Robotic FX, Inc., of Worth, Ill., and its founder and president, a former iRobot employee, Jameel Ahed. iRobot says Robotic FX’s “Negotiator” is a knock-off version of its combat-proven iRobot PackBot robot, and infringes its patents. iRobot is company more known for its consumer Roomba robots than its military robots.

To enforce its rights, iRobot has filed:

(i) a lawsuit against Robotic FX in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama for infringement of two U.S. patents

(ii) a separate lawsuit against Ahed, in Massachusetts Superior Court, for misappropriation and misuse of confidential information related to iRobot’s PackBot that was used to build the Negotiator.