BURLINGTON, Mass., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts announced it has granted a preliminary injunction for iRobot Corp. against Robotic FX Inc.
Massachusetts-based iRobot is a robot provider for military operations among other security applications. The company requested a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against former employee Jameel Ahed and his company, Robotic FX. The injunction prohibits the use of critical features incorporated in the design of Robotic FX's Negotiator.
iRobot alleges that the Negotiator is a knock-off version of its iRobot PackBot robot.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision,” Colin Angle, chief executive officer of iRobot, said in a statement. “We stand ready to deliver our field-proven iRobot PackBots to aid our war fighters in their dangerous missions.”
iRobot is likely to succeed in its claim that Ahed misappropriated iRobot’s trade secrets in the development of Robotic FX’s robot tracks according to findings by U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner in handing down the preliminary injunction.
iRobot sought the injunction after what company officials say was the discovery that Ahed allegedly attempted to destroy evidence related to the lawsuit in Massachusetts and an additional lawsuit the company has against Robotic FX for trade secret misappropriation on two U.S. patents in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
