Teradyne Robotics, Elite Robots settle cobot dispute

Teradyne claimed that Elite Robots’ cobots (above) and software were similar to its own. Teradyne Robotics, a subsidiary of Teradyne Inc.

and parent company of Universal Robots A/S, announced the settlement on Oct. 1. The resolution aims to bring the dispute between the parties to a close and reflects their shared interest in avoiding the continued time and cost associated with legal proceedings. Teradyne is the world’s leading developer of collaborative robot arms, having sold more than 100,000 robots since it was founded in 2005. In a joint statement, Jette Withers, Teradyne Robotics’ chief legal officer, and Charles Xie, Elite Robots’ overseas sales director, said: “The parties have resolved their pending legal dispute by mutual agreement. The settlement does not constitute an admission by Elite Robots regarding liability, infringement, validity of intellectual property rights, or any other disputed issue.” Neither company has said what the settlement requires of either side, and there is no public evidence of what Elite Robots agreed to do. An intellectual property lawyer familiar with this type of litigation, who asked not to be identified and is not involved with the case, told The Robot Report that disputes that begin with an early injunction often end early. The general pattern is that the defendant agrees to stop using the disputed code and pays a fee, but that does not necessarily describe this case. Inside the dispute Teradyne Robotics sued Elite Robots Deutschland GmbH earlier this year, alleging copyright infringement involving Universal Robots software. Teradyne announced in April that the Regional Court of Hamburg had issued a preliminary injunction against Elite Robots Deutschland. The injunction restricted the company in connection with the allegedly infringing software and products containing it in Germany. The preliminary injunction was not a final finding of infringement. Elite Robots also did not admit liability as part of the settlement. The companies ultimately agreed to resolve the dispute rather than continue the litigation. Neither side has publicly disclosed the terms of that agreement. The lack of details makes it impossible to determine whether the settlement involved a financial payment or changes to Elite Robots’ software or products, licensing rights, or other conditions.