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Army contractor iRobot wins patent suits

Fri Dec 21, 7:51 PM ET

BURLINGTON, Mass. - IRobot Corp. on Friday won a pair of federal lawsuits against a competitor company founded by a former employee, resolving the dispute between the companies and putting the competitor out of business.

Burlington-based iRobot filed two lawsuits in August against former employee Jameel Ahed and his company, Robotic FX Corp. — one in Alabama for patent infringement and one in Massachusetts for trade secret misappropriation.

Robotic FX claimed it developed the technology independently.

IRobot won a $286 million contract Tuesday to supply the U.S. Army with bomb-disarming robots, a contract Robotic FX had won in the summer and lost last week.

The Army put the $280 million contract on hold in October, saying it was reviewing whether Robotic FX was a "responsible" choice. The Army's Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation said Tuesday that it was terminating the contract with Robotic FX "without cost" to the Army. IRobot, the Army said, was "the next-lowest-priced, technically qualified bidder."

IRobot, which also makes consumer robots such as Roomba vacuum cleaners, said it would immediately deliver the first 101 robots to the Army for rapid deployment.

In the patent infringement suit, the Alabama court ruled that Robotic FX knowingly infringed on two iRobot patents. The Massachusetts federal court ruled Ahed and Robotic FX misappropriated iRobot's proprietary and confidential information, violated fair trade practices and destroyed evidence.

The court also made permanent an injunction that halted the sale of products using some iRobot trade secrets, including Robotic FX's Negotiator product.

"The judgments validate our strong intellectual property position and the value of our IP," iRobot Chairman Helen Greiner said in a statement.

In a related settlement, Robotic FX will be dissolved and certain assets retained by iRobot. In addition, Ahed is prohibited from being involved in the robotics industry for five years.

IRobot stock closed up 20 cents on Friday at $17.83 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071222/ap_on_hi_te/irobot_lawsuits;_ylt=A0WTcVhhY21HwIYAdyVU.3QA

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