SharkNinja Deals Major Blow to iRobot; Defeats Third iRobot Patent This Week

U.S. Patent Office’s Patent Trial & Appeal Board Invalidates All Asserted Claims of a Third iRobot Patent

NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SharkNinja Operating LLC, a subsidiary of JS Global (HKEX: 1691.HK) and an innovation leader in the consumer floor care industry, today announced that just days after invalidating all asserted claims of two patents iRobot Corp. (iRobot) accused SharkNinja of infringing in a 2019 lawsuit, the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) has now invalidated all asserted claims of a third iRobot patent from that lawsuit. As a result, only one patent remains out of six from iRobot’s original complaint. SharkNinja expects a decision on the validity of that final patent later this month.

Yesterday, the PTAB ruled that the asserted claims of U.S. patent number 10,045,676 titled “Remote Control Scheduler and Method for Autonomous Robotic Device” are unpatentable. This is the third patent from iRobot’s 2019 lawsuit on which SharkNinja has prevailed in as many days. Earlier this week, the PTAB held that all asserted claims of two other patents from that lawsuit also are unpatentable. These three decisions leave only one patent in iRobot’s lawsuit and SharkNinja expects to receive a ruling from the PTAB on its request to invalidate that last patent later this month. If the PTAB rules in SharkNinja’s favor, all six patents that iRobot originally asserted in 2019 will have either been dismissed by iRobot itself or their asserted claims invalidated.

SharkNinja is gratified that the PTAB has agreed on yet another iRobot patent. With this week’s series of wins, SharkNinja has dealt a major blow to iRobot’s transparent strategy of trying to dominate the robotic vacuum cleaner space through meritless litigation rather than by providing innovation and value to consumers.

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.