DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

DJI drones could be blocked from US in trade spat

lisadoc

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 29, 2017
Messages
1,014
Reactions
691
  • Autel seeks import ban on DJI Phantom, Mavic, Inspire models
  • Escalating a drone-patent fight with DJI that began in 2016
The world’s biggest maker of civilian drones could see its products shut out of the U.S. market after a patent-infringement complaint was filed by smaller rival.

SZ DJI Technology Co., a manufacturer of popular hobbyist and commercial drones including the Phantom and Mavic series, is being challenged by Autel Robotics Co.

800x-1.jpg

A DJI Phantom 3 drone.

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
The dispute is over unmanned vehicles used for aerial photography and videotaping, as well as for agricultural purposes. The world’s best-selling drone is the family known as the DJI Phantom, which has a distinctive white plastic exterior and a mount for a camera on its belly.

The Federal Aviation Administration predicted that 1.6 million civilian drones will be sold in the U.S. this year. The Teal Group of Fairfax, Virginia, estimated the 2018 worldwide civilian unmanned aircraft market will reach $4.4 billion.

The China-based DJI is accused of using Autel’s patented features for following a flight path while avoiding obstacles, rotor assembly, and a way to switch out battery packs to minimize lag time between flights.

Chinese-Made Phantom
Autel wants the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban imports of models of DJI’s Phantom, Mavic, Spark and Inspire drones made in China by DJI, according to a complaint filed in Washington on Thursday.

“If DJI’s big market is the U.S., then this is a big deal for them,” said Paul Brinkman of Kirkland & Ellis in Washington, who specializes in ITC cases and isn’t involved in this one.

Autel, which says it designs and makes its drones in the U.S., contends in the complaint that excluding DJI drones from the U.S. “is likely to improve competitive conditions” in the market by providing opportunities for others, including Autel, Yuneec International Co. and Parrot SA.

Even if DJI’s products are excluded, “consumers would still have a variety of products from which to choose that would be manufactured by Autel and other companies,” Autel said in the complaint.

Adam Lisberg, a spokesman for DJI, said the company had no comment on the complaint.

The trade complaint escalates a legal battle that’s been simmering between the companies for the past two years, after Autel began selling its X-Star quadcopter in the U.S. and later its EVO models. Each has accused the other of incorporating their respective technology without paying for it.

“It’s definitely ramped up the case,” Brinkman said. “Anything on a slow track at district court isn’t going to matter so much.”

By filing a complaint with the U.S. trade agency, Autel raises the stakes. It’s rare for a federal court to block sales, even when it involves competing products. The trade commission, by contrast, often issues import bans if it finds products infringe U.S. patents. The patents in this case all expire after 2030.

The commission is a quasi-judicial agency tasked with investigating allegations of unfair trade practices, including patent-infringement. If it agrees to launch an investigation it typically issues a final decision in about 15 to 18 months. If it issues an import ban, then the agency could allow sales to continue for public interests like agricultural needs, but the desires of hobbyists are unlikely to sway the commission, Brinkman said.

The case is In the Matter of Certain Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Complaint No. 3335, U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington).

Terms of Service Violation
 
DJI is infringing on patents? AFAIK, their products are superior to all of the named companies in this complaint. Which makes the plaintiff a cheap knockoff of DJI products.
 
Autel does NOT make their drones in the USA.
They do at least part of the designing process in the US and their headquarters are in washington. But yes, their drones are manufactured in China.
 
Stupid patent trolls.
It should blow back in their face and Autel be prohibited from selling their products seeing how they're so "inspired" by DJI's products that came before them...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Black Mama
Stupid patent trolls.
It should blow back in their face and Autel be prohibited from selling their products seeing how they're so "inspired" by DJI's products...
I wouldn't mind a slight benefit to those companies who actually develop drones in the US, as opposed to slave labor in China.
 
  • Like
Reactions: frank candor
Sounds like a good reason to boycott Autel really.

They can't compete, they're miles behind the competition so need to stop the competition. Sounds exactly like the stunt Boeing pulled recently with bombardier.

They're desperate, the Mavic 2 releases just showed how many years behind Autel are.
 
Sounds like a good reason to boycott Autel really.

They can't compete, they're miles behind the competition so need to stop the competition. Sounds exactly like the stunt Boeing pulled recently with bombardier.

They're desperate, the Mavic 2 releases just showed how many years behind Autel are.
I am rooting for the little guy.
 
I root for the best product.
Not the one that is inferior, can't compete so tries to do everything it can to hamper the competition rather than improve their own offering.
These people seem to love "free market and competition" but dont like the competition bit if someone is better at it than they are.
 
I root for the best product.
Not the one that is inferior, can't compete so tries to do everything it can to hamper the competition rather than improve their own offering.
These people seem to love "free market and competition" but dont like the competition bit if someone is better at it than they are.
On top of what u said, Autel only have one single product for sale. They don't longer produce the x start. I will never trust a company that only produce one single product, that tells me that they lack in innovation and probably lack in money to produce new products. I like DJI because they have a drone for any type of business. From hobby drones to professionals / agricultural. Plus they also sell refurbished drones so you don't have to pay full price. They also sell gimbal cameras and even products for movie maker businesses. DJI is just a leader itself. I don't like to kiss *** but this is why DJI own the drone business worldwide, they innovated in every level.
 
one things for sure
none of you own a Evo;)
 
Autel is not going to be able to get an injunction against DJI. If they do, it might take months. Instead of an injunction, they will probably settle out of court.
 
  • Like
Reactions: macoman
most of the damage will be done by the publicity from it i think
 
  • Like
Reactions: Former Member
Autel cannot even keep up the supply of drones for orders now. They have told suppliers in Australia that they would have no plans to set up trade here for at least 5 years as they do not have capacity to supply the numbers needed. I’m sure this may be the same in other countries.
From what I am hearing, there is demand for their product that they can’t supply.
For this reason I’m not sure why they are pursuing this, doesn’t seem like they loosing business
 

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
134,925
Messages
1,599,933
Members
163,386
Latest member
lukesky
Want to Remove this Ad? Simply login or create a free account