Two US Marshals raided the stand of a Chinese hoverboard maker at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas after a patent complaint.
The marshals took action after California-based Future Motion filed a patent infringement notice against the firm, Changzhou First International Trade.
Bloomberg Business captured the incident on camera, which can be seen on the video below.
The patent complaint related to a single-wheel ‘hoverboard’ being shown by the Chinese firm at CES, which it currently sells for $550 on Alibaba.
The device is similar to Future Motion’s Onewheel vehicle, which sells for $1,499 on their website. They created it after a successful campaign on Kickstarter and exhibited at the CES in 2014.
Future Motion CEO Kyle Doerksen said in a statement: “Knocking off an invention that is patented and carefully quality-controlled is a disservice and unsafe to consumers.
“Future Motion welcomes fair competition, but companies that simply mimic Onewheel without the same technical know-how and safety assurances pose a threat not just to Future Motion, but to consumers and the industry at large.”
The patent infringement notice related to both the design of the hoverboard and the technology used to stabilise it.
The Chinese firm’s one-wheeled hoverboard was on show at a stand at the CES when the US marshals arrived. They were reported to have seized five to six scooters which were being used as part of the display.
The move came after an emergency court order filed by Future Motion.
Changzhou First International Trade could not be reached.