Just as the holiday season heats up, the hoverboard wars have taken another litigious turn.
Razor USA, which recently bought a patent for a self-balancing, two-wheeled vehicle from claimed hoverboard inventor Shane Chen, is suing popular hoverboard maker Swagway for copyright infringement, according to a report from BuzzFeed News. Razor began selling hoverboards under the name Hovertrax last month.
This is the latest development in what's been a lengthy legal battle. Chen and his company Inventist claim to be the first to design a hoverboard, holding patents for the device in the U.S., granted May 27, 2014, and China, granted Aug. 28, 2013. According to a November press release from Inventist, the company received a "favorable verdict" in its copyright infringement lawsuit against IO Hawk, which markets its own hoverboard design.
Inventist also accuses Swagway, Phunkeeduck and other hoverboard manufacturers of copyright infringement. Last month, Razor USA bought the patent from Chen, obtaining the exclusive right to make and sell Hovertrax devices.
Complicating matters further, Segway, which makes a self-balancing scooter (albeit, one with a handle) sued Inventist over copyright infringement in September.
Razor USA filed the suit against Swagway on November 27 in U.S. District Court in California, alleging Swagway sells its products without "license or authority."
As BuzzFeed points out, all hoverboards are made in China and labeled and sold by western distributors, like Swagway.
It seems highly likely that this won't be the only lawsuit to be filed against supposed hoverboard copycats. Razor is quick to flex its legal muscles, launching this suit just weeks after it bought the Hovertrax patent from Chen.