A series of companies were sued over robot vacuum cleaner patents.

iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba and Braava product lines, has sued a series of competitors for infringing on six patents it holds on technology for making smart robot vacuum cleaners.

iRobot currently holds about 300 patents in the US and more than 900 worldwide related to the technologies it uses. The company recently filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) accusing its competitors.

The targets are US companies such as Bissell, Hoover, Black & Decker... and many other companies in Taiwan and China. According to iRobot, each unit infringes from one to six different patents held by this company.

The technologies mentioned relate to the control and behavior of smart vacuum cleaner robots. Specifically, the feature of thoroughly cleaning an area, the collision sensor system that helps the robot change direction when it comes into contact with furniture, or the patent on the far-field spectrum system that helps the device detect obstacles before it comes into contact with them. There is a patent that specifically describes the combination of a motor, brush, dustbin, sensors and a centralized controller. Another patent relates to the use of a remote control in planning the device's operations.

These are mostly common features in vacuums currently on the market. If iRobot can convince the ITC that its patents are indeed being infringed, the consequences could be quite serious for the companies accused, with an import ban in place. Of course, the company would have to prove that copying actually occurred. Some tech blogs have jokingly dubbed this the “robot wars.”

iRobot invented the Roomba smart vacuum cleaner in 2002 and quickly achieved success. However, in recent years, users have had more alternatives with other products with many new models, types and features.

According to VNE