SharkNinja Reaches Successful Conclusion in iRobot Patent Case

iRobot Removed all Challenged Claims after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Found in Favor of SharkNinja

Originally published on Businesswire.com On July 13, 2021.

NEEDHAM, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — SharkNinja Operating LLC (SharkNinja), an innovation leader in the consumer floorcare industry, today announced it has successfully challenged the validity of numerous claims of an iRobot Corp. (iRobot) patent related to wet and dry robots for vacuuming and mopping floors.

In September 2020, SharkNinja filed a petition for an inter partes review before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) related to various claims of iRobot’s U.S. patent number 7,389,156 titled, “Autonomous Surface Cleaning Robot for Wet and Dry Cleaning.” The petition alleged that several claims of the patent were invalid and should be cancelled.

In April 2021, the PTAB instituted SharkNinja’s petition, finding SharkNinja demonstrated at least one of the challenged claims were likely invalid. While iRobot initially opposed SharkNinja’s petition, late last week, iRobot voluntarily disclaimed all of the challenged claims of the patent.

SharkNinja is pleased with the outcome of this proceeding. SharkNinja takes intellectual property very seriously and has sought PTAB review of several additional iRobot patents, which remain pending. SharkNinja is confident that these additional proceedings will ultimately reach successful conclusions as well.

SharkNinja remains dedicated to providing the highest quality robotic vacuums at an extraordinary value and will continue to innovate to improve people’s lives.

About SharkNinja

SharkNinja is an innovation leader in the housewares industry and creator of the familiar household brands Shark® and Ninja®. SharkNinja provides the latest in easy-to-use innovative technology with a growing line of solutions that consist of Shark cleaning and home care products and Ninja kitchen appliances. Products are sold at major retailers and through distributors around the world. Ninja and Shark are registered trademarks of SharkNinja Operating LLC. SharkNinja is a subsidiary of JS Global (HKEX: 1691 HK) a leader in small household appliance innovation.

For more information, visit sharkninja.com.

Contacts

Jenna Caswell
RPGSharkNinja@racepointglobal.com

Sharkninja was founded by Mark Rosenzweig.