dji vs yuneec lawsuite

Not surprising...they are scared. Modular type mounting is most likely not covered as it is common across many technologies and the tracking methods existed before DJI used it. I may not know enough about the technology and I did not read the whole complaint so I may be off.

I hope they get crushed and they have made a mistake in filing the lawsuit.

 

??? all I can see is a fuzzy advert inage and some blurb about an infringement. Doesn't say WHAT infringement?

 

I just read that DJI has 30 US patents and have 50 applications in. It looks like they could be using good patent lawyers to go after companies to bog them down in court with whatever patents they receive. When I was a product development engineer I learned that a good patent lawyer can pick apart the competitions patents so you can copy most of a design but not a few aspects and in the reverse they can explain why someone has infringed on your patent.

I guess my surprise with the patents is that I have not read anything ever that a drone uses technology wise that didn't pre-exist elsewhere. Either from civil aviation or RC Hobbyist's or GPS units, etc. It's all been borrowed and refined/optimized.

Am I missing something?

 

Maybe the real anti-drone technologies to fear are those things called "lawyers."

 

But what REALLY happened is DJI just gave Yuneec a gigantic profile lift.

(People at Yuneec are high-fiving and looking towards DJI HQ - “Thanks, DJI!”)

 

http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/1/11347470/dji-patent-lawsuit-against-yuneec-drones

 

This lawsuit is the dumbest thing I've ever seen DJI do. I was never fond of DJI, but after reading the documents, I have lost all respect for the company. I don't how many of you had a chance to skim or read it, but in summary, its about the following:

1. DJI thinks that Yunnec copied and stole patents for their drone design (specifically the gimbal, the tracking technology, and the barometer)

2. DJI thinks that Yuneec partnering with Best Buy is an infringement on their marketing. They don't like the product placement or how it shows on the website.

3. DJI thinks that the Yuneec was able to review phantom 4 patent information and use it to add Intel Real Sense Technology to their drone.

4. DJI has requested that Yuneec stop selling all their drones as well as pay a substantial sum of money in damage.


I've seen some bogus lawsuits in the past, but this is the poster child for them all. DJI is essentially throwing a tantrum and hoping that the goverment will come out and put the pacifier back in their mouth.

A bit of advice for DJI..... When a competitor of only two years creates something better than you, that's your opportunity to innovate and challenge them. It's not your chance to piss and moan about it.

 

Odd they would mention the partnership Yuneec has with Best Buy. If I'm not mistaken, up until recently, you could only purchase the Phantom 4 either directly through DJI or at an Apple store. DJI wasn't allowing drone/UAV specific retailers/resellers to sell them.

 

GabeZ I read the lawsuit submittal and I agree with everything you said. I also think what they might be going for is to delay the shipping of the Typhoon H so they can get a competitive advantage. I hope the courts see right through that.

 

what's the old saying , what do you get when you have 10,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean , " a good start " .

 

competition , nothing wrong with that , the main reason we can purchase the same item for less then the list price . why would you pay $2,400.00 for the same DJI Phantom from DJI ( just an example ) when you can get it for $1,999.00 on Ebay or Amazon , with free shipping and no tax and also get a return with no questions asked if it dose not work .
dose any one think Best Buy sells only one brand of TVs , stereo's or video games , they are in business to make money the more brands they have in there store the more they will sell .

 

I knew there was another reason I didn't care much for the DJI company, especially after I read there CEO's bio. They sell plenty of there birds, and there is a lot of loyal phantom owners, they need to leave yuneec alone, if they feel threatened then build a better bird,

 

Plus yuneec has Intel in there corner...a multi billion dollar company that won't deal with BS....

 

I had the same thought..... Sure DJI, take a crack at the most successful processor and micro architecture company in the world. Intel has a stake in Yuneecs product business, and if they have anything to say about it, the product will launch as planned.

 

Just maybe DJI is scared or at least nervous about Yuneec and Intel, squash the little bug before it becomes a bigger bug,
Well I'll help grow there bug, I'll buy the H when it is released...

 

We'll protect the bug with an angry mob of Yuneec drones. lol.....

 

After reading the suit DJI does have a point. Yunnec is not as much of a manufacturer as DJI. Yuneec is an assembler, they put together a nice package using components made by others. The flight controller in a Phantom is made by DJI, you can buy aftermarket DJI flight controllers with similar features etc. I don't recall even seeing Yuneec on the flight controller board, not sure who actually manufactures it. One reason why we will never see an SDK for the Yuneec Q.

On the other hand, really DJI is complaining about the SteadyGrip and modular mounted camera. There are 100s of gimbals on the market and they all mount modularly. There are also many handheld devices to mount gimbals on. So it's kinda like having a patent on propellors on a quad.

 

So yuneec is like auto manufacturers, other than the sheet metal all other components are manufactured by other suppliers and assembled at the factory's...
Going to be interesting to see how this ends, sure hope it doesn't postpone the H release, I'm excited about it...

 

The have made a point, but an invalid one. For example, I could say that this forum, while used by the original designer (meaning XenForo) and others, is infringing on it's original intended use. What that use is and who sets the tone can change at any given time. This forum is not designed by the person running it.