SharkNinja Operating LLC, a subsidiary of JS Global, an innovation leader in the consumer floorcare industry, announced that the International Trade Commission issued its Initial Determination in an ongoing patent case brought by iRobot Corp. (iRobot) against SharkNinja, largely in SharkNinja's favor. The Initial Determination, issued by the Administrative Law Judge, found for SharkNinja, and against iRobot, on two of the four remaining patents asserted by iRobot, and one claim of the remaining two patents. None of SharkNinja's top-selling AI Ultra products and none of SharkNinja's auto-empty robot products were found to infringe any valid patent claim. The Initial Determination found for iRobot on certain claims of two patents, which were asserted against a small subset of SharkNinja's product line. The Initial Determination is non-final, and is subject to review by the International Trade Commission, which should be completed by the beginning of February 2023.

SharkNinja, a well-known marketer of home consumer products, has entered the American robotic vacuum market with a product that is priced to compete against iRobot's Roomba line of floor cleaners. It sells at a very favorable price point to iRobot's. SharkNinja has partnered with ECOVACS, a Chinese manufacturer of many robotic products including robotic vacuums and floor cleaners, to custom manufacture the new Shark ION Robot – thus SharkNinja isn't starting from scratch. On Singles Day (11/11/2016), online via the e-commerce giant Alibaba, ECOVACS sold $60.2 million of robotic products, up from $47.6 million in 2015. The star performer was a DEEBOT robotic vacuum which sold 135,000 units.