DJI to stop selling most Mavic due to patent infringement?

[Moozer]

Just read an article that says the Autel prevailed in a patent infringement suit against DJI. The article says that the ITC (International Trade Commission) administrative law judge is recommending that DJI be prohibited from importing or selling all infringing products, including al Mavic models except the Mavic Mini. Anyone else hear of this?

 

[itsneedtokno]

?

...did not see MA2...

minor win for me

 

[Cyberpower678]

Time to buy more batteries for my Mavic.

 

[dirkclod]

I don't see it happening as big as DJI is. But if they do stop selling them i will not buy any other.

 

[Ars3nal3432]

?

...did not see MA2...

minor win for me

True but that's just an article summarizing what might happen. I would want to see source documents before making a conclusion. I just hope my air2 ships before anything happens

 

[Thomas B]

Likely that, given DJI’s market share, there will be an appeal. The article was from March and the DJI Store is unchanged. So it would seem there’s no injunction against DJI. Having been a defendant in a similar type suite.... the appeals could take years easily.... by that time the issue may likely be moot... or Autel could either abandon the suit or let it go dormant if they can’t defend the likely appeal. We’ll see.

 

[sar104]

So it's the locking bayonet prop attachment method that they are claiming, which is why the Mini is not included. They are almost certainly looking for a settlement. Now they just need to figure out how to get their own drones to market.

 

[itsneedtokno]

True but that's just an article summarizing what might happen. I would want to see source documents before making a conclusion. I just hope my air2 ships before anything happens

I missed BB return window by 20 minutes, oh well, she goes back tomorrow...

Until the replies above, I was worried... Now, not so much.

 

[WithTheBirds]

So it's the locking bayonet prop attachment method that they are claiming, which is why the Mini is not included. They are almost certainly looking for a settlement. Now they just need to figure out how to get their own drones to market.

Very interesting. Just look at how many bayonet type configurations were applied in so many other components long before drones even existed- DJI didn’t need to steal from Autel. It’s probably only the lawyers who will benefit here.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Now they just need to figure out how to get their own drones to market.

Bingo !
DJI are masters with that aspect.

 

[sar104]

Very interesting. Just look at how many bayonet type configurations were applied in so many other components long before drones even existed- DJI didn’t need to steal from Autel. It’s probably only the lawyers who will benefit here.

The specific art that they are claiming is the opposite rotation insertion into the CW and CCW props. It does seem like a stretch but the patent was granted. It may not stand, of course.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Very interesting. Just look at how many bayonet type configurations were applied in so many other components long before drones even existed- DJI didn’t need to steal from Autel. It’s probably only the lawyers who will benefit here.

Yep, it could very well be challenged successfully if DJI lawyers do their research right.
Bayonet and opposite force physics could / should be defendable, they could argue helicopter type rotational control.

DJI will certainly stall and dig, but then they should have already to this stage of the matter too, so who knows.
There is a lot of anti Chinese sentiment around now too, which could have an effect (it shouldn't, but you know, human prejudices are real).

I had to defend one of our business concepts, oh about 15 years ago, couple of likely lads and their lawyers with a "new" product come along and ask us to cease and desist marketing our convex glass products, as it infringed their acrylic convex products patent filed a few years before.
Trouble is, we had been making our products for about 20 years previously, told them in no uncertain terms through our legal counsel if they persist, we will hit them with pre existing technology and seek to make their patent invalid, as well as seek damages and legal cost.
End of problem.

 

[RayOZ]

A victory? How much $$$ does Autel's lawyer have to keeps this going to get DJI to pay them.
I think Autel wants compensation for Mavic drones already sold, as opposed to stop importation to US.
A bit delusional to think if they remove DJI's drones from the market, people will flock to Autel's.

 

[dirkclod]

I won’t.

 

[FoxhallGH]

The patent is quite specific with illustrations showing how Autel propose to lock their prop's to the drone's motors. It's nothing like the 3-point latch system that DJI have used. My understanding of Patents is that they have to be quite specific - but because of that, it does mean that somebody else doesn't have to be all that different in how they do the same thing, to not infringe the patent.

US9260184B2 - Compact unmanned rotary aircraft - Google Patents

A rotary wing aircraft apparatus has arms extending from a body, and a rotor assembly attached to an end of each arm. Each rotor assembly has a rotor blade releasably attached by a lock mechanism. A clockwise rotor blade is releasably attached to a first rotor assembly by engagement in a...

patents.google.com

 

[FoxhallGH]

This appears to be the latest piece of news regarding this ...

Steptoe Secures ITC Win for Autel in Patent Dispute with DJI

Steptoe has secured a significant trial victory for Autel Robotics USA at the US International Trade Commission (ITC). On March 2, the chief administrative law judge of the ITC found that SZ D…

www.suasnews.com

 

[AnzacJack]

. Now they just need to figure out how to get their own drones to market.

Was reading this thinking exactly that. Can Autel even meet the demand it has for its product as it currently stands? I’m not sure DJI is costing them anything.

 

[FoxhallGH]

The really interesting thing here is that despite having a patent with a description of a locking mechanism for their Prop's, Autel have pretty much copied the DJI method and mechanism to lock the props onto their newest Evo II range ... An extract from the user manual would look familiar to any DJI owner ...


That's going to be interesting when that's tabled in the case ...

 

[GerdS]

I have heared of but not yet seen by myself, that the props on MA2 are no longer keyed to prevent mounting them onto the wrong motor. Maybe that is the result of this case...

 

[sar104]

Was reading this thinking exactly that. Can Autel even meet the demand it has for its product as it currently stands? I’m not sure DJI is costing them anything.

It seems unlikely. The EVO II seems to have vanished - they have been pushing it for months now but even the pricing options on their website have been removed. A couple of months ago it had prices except for the Dual, which said "contact for pricing", but nothing actually for sale. I tried several times to do that, and just got canned emails saying thanks for my interest.