Mark Cuban prepares for ultimate showdown with Walmart
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looks ready to take on Walmart over the sale of hoverboards.
Our extremely-2015 story starts on an episode of Cuban’s TV show Shark Tank, where Cuban was introduced to those no-hands hoverboards you’ve seen famous people using the past couple months. Cuban bought the patent license for the boards last month, according to BuzzFeed.
Cuban bought the patent license from Shane Chen, an Oregon inventor who filed a patent for the hoverboard in 2014. An American company, IO Hawk, is importing the Chinese-manufactured hoverboards and selling them as well.
Walmart plans on selling the hoverboards this holiday season, and if they choose the ones from IO Hawk over Chen, they could be hit with a patent infringement lawsuit. Chen already has one lawsuit filed against IO Hawk.
Cuban has Chen’s back, and in an email to Buzzfeed, had some tough talk for Walmart:
“They are in for a nightmare,” Cuban said.
Whoa! Let’s keep it civil. Keep that kind of incendiary talk for the basketball court, Mark!
Anyway, don’t expect Cuban to buy a pair of shorts from Sam’s Club any time soon. If Walmart really wants to irk Cuban, they should have a special sale on DeAndre Jordan jerseys.
