DJI has strongly refuted recent online rumors claiming that the company has refused to pay fines and is exiting the US market. The company said that it has not issued any official statements or external communications conveying such information.
In a recent ruling by a federal court in Texas, DJI was found to have infringed upon the intellectual property of Textron, an aerospace technology company based in the United States. Following a trial that lasted for a week, the jury concurred with Textron Innovations, a subsidiary of Textron, in their claim that DJI’s drones violated two patents, ‘vehicle following’ and ‘ automatic hovering’ associated with drone flight control systems. The court then ordered DJI to pay damages totaling $279 million.
In response to the verdict, DJI released an official statement expressing its strong opposition to the ruling. The company stated that it will actively pursue all available means to defend its legal rights in this matter. DJI said that it has independently developed its technologies, having clear distinctions from Textron’s patents. While Textron’s vehicle-following technology incorporates both the position and direction of the followed vehicle, DJI drones solely rely on the position of the subject being tracked.
Similarly, DJI’s automatic hovering feature does not operate through a pilot inside the vehicle controlling it with mechanical and hydraulic systems, as claimed in Textron’s patent. Instead, DJI’s hovering functionality is based on a drone operator using a handheld remote controller. These differences underline DJI’s unique approach to technology development and refute claims of patent infringement. It further stated that “Textron is a military helicopter company. DJI is a civilian drone company. No commonality exists between the technologies,”
Founded by Frank Wang in 2006, DJI started as a small venture in a college dorm room. It has since grown into a prominent tech company with thousands of employees, a quarter of whom are engaged in research and development activities. DJI’s products have found applications in military settings, joining the ranks of various other technology companies in this regard. However, in December 2021, the United States government placed DJI on an investment blacklist due to allegations of its involvement in surveillance activities targeting Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region.
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