Teradyne unit Universal Robots recently displayed its mobile manipulator with a UR cobot arm at MODEX. Source: Teradyne
As the Hannover Messe trade show began in Germany this week, the Regional Court of Hamburg has issued a preliminary injunction against Elite Robots Deutschland GmbH as Teradyne Robotics A/S sues it for copyright infringement.
Teradyne Robotics, a subsidiary of Teradyne Inc., had begun legal proceedings against Elite Robots’ Germany subsidiary last month. It had already sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing the Chinese force- and power-limited robot maker of infringing on the proprietary software of Universal Robots A/S, a Teradyne unit and cobot market leader.
“At Teradyne Robotics, we have chosen to take a stand against any competitors copying our proprietary hardware or software design, and we are of course pleased with this ruling,” stated Jean-Pierre Hathout, president of the Teradyne Robotics Group. “We believe we have irrefutable evidence of copyright infringement and, while this is not a final ruling from the court, it is a clear indication that we have a very strong case.”
Teradyne monitors infringement threat
“The reason we started looking into this is because of increasing competition from lots of small companies,” David Brandt, vice president of research and development and the chief technology officer at Odense, Denmark-based Universal Robots, told The Robot Report.
David Brandt, CTO of Universal Robots. Source: LinkedIn
“There are a lot of cheap variants of collaborative robots entering the market,” he noted. “One of those we looked at was from Elite, and it was clear that it looked very much like our own. Our team in the U.S. looked at the software, and it was something very close to our software in their robots.”
“We believe we have strong evidence,” Brandt added. “We’re not doing this because we’re against healthy competition; this is about stealing technology. We welcome competition, which makes us all strive to be better, but competing against companies with our own technology crosses the line.”
Brandt told Danish newspaper Børsen that Elite Robots included a setting that allowed users to disable safety settings. Teradyne Robotics has warned safety authorities in Denmark, Germany, and the U.S.
The Robot Report has reached out to Elite Robots, but it has not yet responded. Founded in 2016, the Shanghai company has expanded into Western markets and claimed to have more than 10,000 deployments across more than 35 countries, as well as over 200 patents and IP assets.
Court orders Elite Robots to provide information
According to the court’s decision, Elite Robots Germany is immediately prohibited from offering or distributing the infringing software and all products containing this software in Germany until further notice. Teradyne attorneys have reportedly asked the company to shut down its exhibit at Hannover Messe.
In addition, the court ordered Elite Robots Germany to provide comprehensive information about the infringing acts it has committed and to disclose information about the customers it has supplied. No court date has yet been set.
Teradyne Robotics said it intends to take legal action against Elite Robots’ distributors and partners if they continue to offer the infringing software.
“Automation and innovation are critical to our industrial future,” said Hathout. “We cannot passively allow companies to unlawfully copy protected technologies. This not only hampers research and innovation, but also undermines customer experience and confidence.”
“Teradyne Robotics remains fully committed to protecting our intellectual property and to ensuring automation customers have access to the safe, innovative, and high-quality solutions they deserve,” he added.
Teradyne claims that Elite Robots’ cobots and software are very similar to its own. Source: Elite Robots
Legal disputes escalate as competition intensifies
As global competition intensifies in robotics and AI, it’s no surprise that intellectual property disputes have increased. For instance, at LogiMAT last month, Ocado called German police to shut down Brightpick‘s booth under an injunction for alleged patent infringement.
Elite Robots covered its cobot at Hannover Messe. Credit: The Robot Report source
However, the authorities didn’t find any violations, and Brightpick was able to display its mobile picking robots without incident for the remainder of that event and at MODEX last week. Ocado had settled another patent dispute with AutoStore in 2023.
In February 2026, a Chinese court dismissed Luweimei Co.’s claims against legged robot maker Unitree. Also in legged robots, Boston Dynamics last year resolved a patent lawsuit with Ghost Robotics.
In many of these cases, companies in different countries have accused one another of copying intellectual property.
“Teradyne Robotics has been hit hard by weak growth in European industrial production, which contracted by 2.5% in 2024,” noted Børsen. “The company lost 15.5% of its revenue last year, on turnover of approximately DKK 2 billion [$310 million U.S.].”
While the installed base of industrial robots has fallen in Europe and the U.S., according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), more than half of all robots installed in 2024 were in China. The VDMA Robotics + Automation Association in February warned that Germany is falling behind in robotics.
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