Teradyne Robotics and Elite Robots resolve cobot controversy

Teradyne Robotics and Elite Robots have reached a mutual agreement to resolve a legal dispute over robots and software, bringing the case to an end without either company making the terms of the agreement public.

Teradyne Robotics, a subsidiary of Teradyne Inc. and parent company of Universal Robots A/S, announced the agreement on October 1. The resolution seeks to bring the dispute between the parties to an end and reflects their shared interest in avoiding the ongoing time and costs associated with legal proceedings.

Teradyne is the world’s leading developer of collaborative robotic arms, having sold more than 100,000 robots since it was founded in 2005.

In a joint statement, Jette Withers, chief legal officer of Teradyne Robotics, and Charles Xie, director of foreign sales at Elite Robots, said: “The parties have resolved the pending legal dispute by mutual agreement. The settlement does not constitute an admission by Elite Robots of liability, infringement, validity of intellectual property rights, or any other matter of dispute.”

Neither company has said what the deal requires from either side, and there is no public evidence of what Elite Robots has agreed to do.

This was stated by an intellectual property lawyer, expert in this type of dispute, who asked not to be identified and not to be involved in the case The robot report that disputes that begin with an early injunction often end early. The general pattern is that the defendant agrees to stop using the disputed code and pays a fee, but that doesn’t necessarily describe this case.

Inside the dispute

Teradyne Robotics sued Elite Robots Deutschland GmbH earlier this year, alleging copyright infringement involving Universal Robots software. Teradyne announced in April that the Hamburg Regional Court had issued a preliminary injunction against Elite Robots Deutschland. The injunction restricted the company from the allegedly infringing software and products containing it in Germany.

The preliminary injunction did not constitute a final finding of violation. Elite Robots also admitted no liability as part of the settlement. The companies ultimately agreed to settle the dispute rather than continue litigation.

Neither party has disclosed the terms of that agreement. The lack of detail makes it impossible to determine whether the agreement involved a financial payment or changes to Elite Robots’ software or products, licensing fees or other terms.

Universal Robots launches Gen 7

The deal comes shortly after Universal Robots unveiled its strength- and power-limited seventh-generation platform. The Odense, Denmark-based company said the new system represents a broader redesign of its technologies, including its new g-series robotic arms, CB7 Core controller, TP7 Core learning pendant and SP7 Smart Panel.

Gen 7 is built around PolyScope X, which Universal Robots has described as the software platform for its next generation of robots. PolyScope X includes open APIs and an SDK designed to support AI applications, as well as expanded connectivity and programming capabilities.

The Gen 7 launch is notable given the Teradyne-Elite Robots controversy involved in Universal Robots software.

The Elite Robots controversy isn’t the only recent lawsuit involving Teradyne Robotics. In August, it filed a separate case alleging that the alleged German subsidiary of Chinese cobot maker JAKA Robotics had infringed three patents. All three patents have priority dates of March 2006 and are assigned to Universal Robots. The case is still ongoing.

Editor’s Note: James Davidson, chief AI officer at Teradyne Robotics, will speak at RoboBusiness 2026. The event will take place on October 20 and 21 in Santa Clara, California, and will attract more than 1,500 attendees from the robotics development community.