US bans hoverboard imports - not because of fire risk but because Segway complained about copyright infringement

The U.S. has banned almost all imports of hoverboards - not over safety conces, but because of copyright infringement complaints from Segway.

While several hoverboard brands are known to spontaneously combust, the Inteational Trade Commission (ITC) instead halted imports after a request from Segway, which cited patent disputes.

The New Hampshire based company, which holds more than 400 patents, filed a complaint with the ITC in 2014 about the imported hoverboards, which borrow their protected technology that allows them to balance, technology blog  Gizmodo reported.

The ban of the primarily Chinese manufactured hoverboards will likely create a shortage of the product across the country.

But the market for hoverboards is currently experiencing a lull, after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission called the hoverboards 'defective' since they failed to comply with new safety regulations and posed an 'unreasonable risk of fire'.

Major retailers such as Amazon, Toys 'R' Us and Target have stopped stocking the products. 

Last month, a fire started by a hoverboard ravaged a house in Nashville, Tennessee, trapping two teenagers upstairs.

One of them, a 16-year-old girl, jumped out of the window from the second floor. Her brother, 14, climbed down a ladder with his father's help.

 

Hoverboards have been known to spontaneously combust and last month a fire started by a hoverboard ravaged a house in Nashville, Tennessee (pictured), trapping two teenagers upstairs