Feds Block Some Hoverboard Imports Over Segway Patent

The U.S. international exchange commission has barred imports of hoverboards coated through a patent issued to Segway creator Dean Kamen.

Segway, and Kamen’s firm DEKA products, filed a grievance with the fee again in 2014, asking the commission to ban imports into the U.S. of hoverboards that the companies said infringed plenty of patents covering Segway’s iconic two-wheel transporters.

And on Wednesday, the ITC, which has the facility to limit imports that infringe on intellectual property rights, announced it was issuing a ban on “private transporters” coated through a patent on “keep an eye on of a non-public transporter in keeping with user position.”

whereas Segway named thirteen particular firms in the U.S. and China that it said have been infringing its rights, it asked the commission to bar all infringing hoverboards, no longer simply these from the precise manufacturers.

“The commission has decided that a general exclusion order for entry for consumption is essential to prevent circumvention of an exclusion order restricted to merchandise of named individuals and because there’s a pattern of violation of [import laws] and it’s difficult to identify the source of infringing products,” the ITC wrote.

Hoverboards, which are frequently made through fly-with the aid of-night manufacturers in China, have already been banned from a few U.S. airways, transit techniques, outlets, and faculties over fears that their batteries might trap fire. In January, Amazon started out offering refunds on all hoverboards offered via its website, based on security concerns.

The division of Transportation not too long ago warned that of 32 cargo containers intercepted, more than eighty% didn’t have right kind documentation that their lithium batteries had been secure to transport.

the shopper Product security commission has additionally warned of the risk of the gadgets, telling consumers that even hoverboards that declare to be UL certified could also be dangerous, for the reason that safety crew doesn’t in fact certify hoverboards.

“Have a working fireplace extinguisher local whereas charging or the usage of these boards in and round your own home,” CPSC Chairman Elliot F. Kaye recommended in January.