iRobot Announces Agreement with Black & Decker in Patent Dispute

BEDFORD, Mass., Dec. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in consumer robots and maker of the Roomba® vacuuming robot, today announced that it has reached a confidential agreement with Black & Decker. As part of the agreement, Black & Decker agreed to discontinue sales of all home robotic vacuums for a certain period of time after selling through its existing inventory. The remaining terms of the settlement are confidential.

"This settlement represents another successful milestone in the enforcement effort iRobot initiated earlier this year," said Glen Weinstein, executive vice president and chief legal officer at iRobot. "iRobot believes in the strength of its patents, and the agreement by Black & Decker to discontinue sales of any home robotic vacuums for a certain period of time signifies, yet again, the value of iRobot's intellectual property."

As part of the agreement, iRobot has agreed to remove Black & Decker from the pending U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC") investigation No. 337-TA-1057 ("In the Matter of Certain Robotic Vacuum Cleaning Devices and Components Thereof Such as Spare Parts") and the United States District Court of Massachusetts Case No. 1:17-cv-10647. The actions involving Bissell Homecare, Inc., bObsweep, Inc., bObsweep USA, Hoover, Shenzhen ZhiYi Technology Co., Ltd., Matsutek Enterprises Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen Silver Star Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. will proceed. An evidentiary hearing in the ITC investigation is scheduled for March 2018.

About iRobot Corp.
iRobot, the leading global consumer robot company, designs and builds robots that empower people to do more both inside and outside of the home. iRobot created the home robot cleaning category with the introduction of its Roomba® Vacuuming Robot in 2002. Today, iRobot is a global enterprise that has sold more than 20 million robots worldwide. iRobot's product line, including the Roomba and the Braava® family of mopping robots, feature proprietary technologies and advanced concepts in cleaning, mapping and navigation. iRobot's engineers are building an ecosystem of robots and data to enable the smart home. For more information about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com.

For iRobot Investors
Certain statements made in this press release that are not based on historical information are forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to iRobot Corporation's expectations concerning the litigation. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. iRobot undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by iRobot, see the disclosure contained in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

SOURCE iRobot Corp.