IRobot Again Sees Vacuum Patent Claims Trimmed at Tribunal

An administrative tribunal dealt the maker of Roomba vacuum cleaners a mixed hand Tuesday when it struck some claims from an iRobot Corp. patent, escalating a long-running intellectual property feud between it and another robotic vacuum company.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled that parts of US Patent No. 7,571,511, which covers designs for an “autonomous floor-cleaning robot,” are invalid because they’re obvious in light of prior inventions. However, the tribunal upheld the validity of other claims. The ruling could be another speed bump for iRobot’s years-long battle to curb the rising threat from SharkNinja Operating LLC, which ...