segway mini

US bans hoverboards, amazing but true! In a move that will leave many, who were planning to buy a hoverboard, disappointed, Segway has managed to issue a general exclusion order for hoverboards that infringe their ‘Control of a personal transporter based on user position’ patent no. US 8830048 B2.

Segway has stated that hoverboards infringe the patent based on the intellectual property developed by DEKA, the company from which Segway licenses the technology.

The general exclusion order has come from the International Trade Commission (ITC) and bans the import of hoverboards into the United States.

Segway has called out 13 companies which it states infringes their patent, and of these five have either reached settlements with Segway or got consent orders. The companies named by Segway include UPTECH, U.P. Technology, U.P. Robotics, FreeGo China, Ecoboomer and Roboscooters. One of them, Ecoboomer has been barred from selling any hoverboards that have entered the US. Surprisingly one of the companies that has reached a settlement with Segway is Ninebot, a Chinese company that bought Segway in 2015.

The patent war happening with the hoverboard itself is yet another story, which involves Shane Chen the Seattle-based engineer who had originally filed the patent for the hoverbard, Razor a US based toy company, Ninebot and Chic Robotics a Chinese company.

It is being said that the ITC general exclusion order has wider ramifications and may even affect the bigger hoverboard companies like Swagway and IO Hawk.

The execution of this general inclusion will also involve the US Customs as the ITC public notice clearly states that all devices that violate Segway’s intellectual property have to be blocked by US customs.

Obviously, this does not mean that all hoverboards will vanish from the US market, only that it will get a little harder to get. In the light of these development, it will be a good idea to buy your hoverboard from the Swagway website, which is selling the original Swagway X1. Swagway is also one of the hoverboard companies that was working closely with UL to develop safety and quality standards for the US hoverboard industry. They are also in the process of launching their new next generation fire-retardant hoverboard the SwagTron.

This new developed has come soon after the CPSC, the Consumer Products Safety Commission, a US Govt. agency stated that hoverboards cannot be sold unless they are UL 2272 certified.

It is clear that the hoverboard market in the US is now waiting for the next concrete development, where one company will emerge with a hoveroard brand that is UL 2272 compliant and does not infringe upon any patents.

84 year old granny tries hoverboard for the first time and utterly entertains her family.

She’s from Southport, she is 84 and she rides a mean hoverboard. We are talking about inspiring grandmother Pat Williams who decided to give her great grandson’s two wheeled hoverboard a try, and managed so well that she even did a little dance while riding it.

The hoverboard, or self balancing electric scooter, belongs to 11 year old William Williams who is the son of Pat’s grandson Barry Williams. The video was first uploaded on Facebook by Barry’s partner Craig Webster, who said that she was thrilled to see Nanny Pat, as Pat Williams is fondly called by the family, trying out a hoverboard for the first time with so much enthusiasm and verve.

Craig put up the video on Facebook and she noticed that overnight over 20,000 people had seen it. In the video we see two members of Pat’s family heling her on to the hoverboard, and with some encouragement and hand holding, she gets the hang of the hoverboard.

The wonderful and spirited granny then goes on to even move her arms about in an impromptu dance move as she rides the two-wheeled balance board.

Craig Williams said that Nanny Pat is a good sport and believes in ‘living every moment like it’s your last’. She also said that Nanny Pat wanted to try out the hoverboard after she saw one on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Nanny Pat used to live in Old Roan and has been described by Facebook commenters as being a ‘fabulous brave lady’.

Nanny Pat’s wonderful enthusiasm and surprising agility on the hoverboard had her entire family in splits. She is seen really enjoying her short hoverboard ride. Well it is now official, there is no age limit to enjoying a hoverboard ride.

Have a look at the ‘Granny tries hoverboard for first time’ video of Pat William’s awesome little hoverboard ride.

Such wonderful reactions from grandmothers and grandfathers are really great to watch, and tell us all to stay young in our hearts, no matter what our age.

Here is another video of a grandmother watching virtual reality for the first time. Her reactions are awesome to say the least. Understandably the video has over 2 million hits.

Have a look at more funny hoverboard videos here. If you want to buy a hoverboard, have a look at the safest place on the web to buy a hoverboard.

Jessica Taylor Hoverboard Injury

After Jessica Taylor and her husband Kevin Pietersen bought their five year old son Dylan a hoverboard, Jessica decided to give it a try. She had hardly got on it for about 30 seconds, when she lost her balance and fell.

Not only did she fall, she heard a ‘crack’, and sure enough it resulted in a back injury that has her moving around in crutches. Kevin Pietersen is a former England cricketer and Jessica is the former Liberty X singer, who have two children, their 5 year old son Dylan and infant daughter Rosie.

Jessica was very keen to try out the must-have gadget and was giving it her first try when the fall happened. Due to the fall she will not be able to participate in the Tough Mom challenge of the Good Morning Britain show.

Jessica Taylor in Tough Mums of Good Morning Britain

Jessica appeared in the Good Morning Britain show propped up by crutches. It was in the show that she talked about her fall. In her own words, she said, “This unfortunately was a hoverboard-related injury. I need to leave it to my five year old in future, that's the lesson learnt! First and last time! It was the getting off. I've been for an X-ray and an MRI and I'm waiting to hear. I think maybe a little crack."

Jessica was supposed to have participated in the Tough Mums event as a part of the Good Morning Britain show, but was unable to because of her injury. She was replaced by weather presenter Laura Tobin on the ITV breakfast show's competition. The Tough Mums event was designed around the Tough Muddler challenge which has 10 hurdles.

This is what was shared by the Good Morning Britain ​show on their Twitter account.

Jessica is one of many celebrities who have taken a tumble while riding a hoverboard. Another very famous instance was Mike Tyson falling off his daughter’s hoverboard.

Jessica however is hopeful that she would be able to get back to the Tough Mums competition that will happen in May 2016 and participate along with other celebrity mothers like Susanna Reid, Kate Garraway, Ben Shepherd, Richard Arnold, Renvir Singh and Sean Fletcher.

Another well now personality who had an injury after falling while riding a hoverboard was Ho Ching, wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.