CES is usually a place where we can expect many new product announcements to be made, and new innovative products to be shown off. However during CES 2016, it looks like there was a bit of drama as US Marshals actually raided a Chinese hoverboard maker’s booth, taking away their products, signs, and fliers in the process.
The company in question is Changzhou First International Trade Co., and according to reports it seems that they are being accused by Future Motion for selling off a knock off version of their hoverboard. The company claims that they found out about this last year where they notified that the company was planning to sell their hoverboard for $500, versus the $1,500 price tag of Future Motion.
According to Future Motion designer Kyle Doerksen, “We engaged our IP lawyers because we heard there were going to be knock-offs of the Onewheel product appearing at CES. We went through the formal U.S. legal process to get a temporary restraining order against one of these companies that’s trying to sell a knock-off product in the States for the first time.”
However this is more than just about protecting their patents. According to Doerksen, “If customers start to view the space as full of low-quality, low-cost products, that reflects poorly on everybody. We hate to see someone poison the well.” Not to mention with reports of hoverboards catching on fire and exploding, we’re sure the last thing people want is a cheap hoverboard that isn’t safe, right?
Filed in . Read more about CES, CES 2016, Hoverboards and Legal.