Ride the Lightning

JUDGE ASKS: "WHAT, I DON'T GET TO KEEP THE ROBOT?" THE IROBOT-ROBOTIC FX CASE

October 9, 2007

The robots aren’t entirely running the courtroom – yet. But they have taken center stage, zigging and zagging around the courtroom and demonstrating their functionality in the IROBOT-ROBOTIC FX case. Even the judge asked wryly at the demo’s end: "What, I don’t get to keep the robot?"

Though the facts in this patent infringement/misappropriation case are calling Hollywood’s name, from an electronic evidence standpoint, the shenanigans are almost too many to count. Evidence hurled into a dumpster, files wiped, disks shredded, hiding a wiped laptop under a bed – the charges of spoliation abound. There are claims and counter claims and a sizeable military contract in the offing (approximately $280 million), so the sparks are flying. If you want to read the whole convoluted mess, the links are below.

Thanks to my friend Andy Simpson for alerting me to this high tech thriller and providing the following links:

http://www.xconomy.com/2007/09/25/robotic-fx-founder-admits-destroying-data-but-says-some-evidence-might-have-been-planted-hearing-will-resume-monday/

http://www.xconomy.com/2007/10/01/potentially-planted-evidence-memory-lapses-and-unwanted-memorabilia-the-latest-from-the-irobot-robotic-fx-files/

http://www.xconomy.com/2007/10/03/robots-drive-around-courtroom-but-still-no-decision-as-witness-testimony-ends-in-irobot-robotic-fx-case/

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