Segway sues manufacturer of two-wheeled autobalancing boards

Policeman using segway

The company Segway, paving the way for two-wheeled vehicles automatically balancing vehicles, sued the inventors of similar gadgets , the company Inventist . The trial stems from the fact that Segway accuses Inventist of violating patent laws.

Inventist successfully went to crowdfunding with its two-wheeled Hovertrax board. This device looks simpler and weighs less than the Segway. A simple board with footboards and two wheels on the sides. Light tilts of the foot can adjust the speed of movement, go back and forth, and turn in place. The device operates from a battery, and drives about 10-15 km on a single charge.


Hovertrax
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In addition, Inventist is responsible for the invention of a similar one-wheeled vehicle - Solowheel, which has all the characteristics of the devices described above, but at the same time contains only one wheel. The pilot stands with his feet on the platform on either side of him. The wheel has a retractable handle - you can hold it while driving, or carry the device.


Solowheel

Both Solowheel and Hovertrax have become quite popular tools on all kinds of shows and television shows due to their unusual appearance. Pilots of such devices can be found on the asphalt of different cities of the world, including Moscow. They did not ignore them even in a recent issue of KVN.



As often happens, the Segway, although they became pioneers, could not create a super popular device - and their followers are gaining popularity much faster.

Inventist disagree with the claim. Moreover, they, in turn, themselves sued another company, Soibatian Corporation, which made the IO Hawk device, which is much more like Hovertrax than Hovertrax - Segway.


Io hawk

Clones of such devices have already appeared a few pieces - here is another example, sold under the name PhunkeeDuck :



The story of the Segway company itself is indicative: in 2014, the company filed a lawsuit against the Chinese manufacturer Ninebot Inc., which stamped two-wheeled clones. The process ended unexpectedly - Ninebot Inc just bought the entire Segway along with the patents.