The collaborative robot industry’s biggest patent fight just got a second front. JAKA Robotics has gone to court against Teradyne Robotics, seeking injunctive relief in Germany to stop the public dissemination of statements it calls “false, misleading and damaging” — a direct answer to the patent infringement case Teradyne announced only a week earlier.
The opening move came on August 27, 2026, when Teradyne Robotics A/S — the Danish arm of Teradyne, Inc. and parent company of cobot market leader Universal Robots — filed a patent infringement case at the Unified Patent Court’s Local Division in Copenhagen. The suit targets the German subsidiary of Shanghai-based JAKA and concerns patents covering both hardware and software used in collaborative robot arms marketed in the EU. “This case is another clear demonstration that Teradyne Robotics will enforce its patents and intellectual property (IP) rights against what we consider to be illegal and unfair copying and infringement, across both hardware and software,” said Jean-Pierre Hathout, president of Teradyne Robotics Group.
JAKA’s version of events is strikingly different. The company says it received no direct communication from Teradyne or its legal representatives, has seen no legal documents or court notices, and learned of the allegations only through Teradyne’s social media announcement and the press inquiries that followed. As of September 2, 2026, JAKA’s legal advisers found that no patent infringement proceedings had been formally opened against the company — despite the very public announcement. On September 3, 2026, JAKA confirmed it was taking legal action of its own.
The Shanghai-based manufacturer insists it has nothing to hide:
- Its technology was developed through years of independent R&D, not copied from Universal Robots;
- The company holds more than 300 granted patents worldwide;
- Before entering the European market, JAKA commissioned two independent freedom-to-operate analyses — and neither flagged any infringement concerns.
JAKA argues that “serious allegations of patent infringement must be addressed on the basis of verifiable facts and through the appropriate legal process – rather than through public claims.” The company also objects to what it reads as insinuations about the safety and quality of its robots tied to its Chinese origin, calling such statements anti-competitive conduct.
Teradyne is not backing down. David Brandt, Universal Robots’ VP of R&D, dismissed the patent-count argument, saying “the number of patents is generally irrelevant, as it is not about the quantity of patents but the strength of the patents.” As for those freedom-to-operate studies, Teradyne’s side quipped that the analysts had “apparently not done a very good job if they failed to identify our patents.”
The Copenhagen filing is Teradyne Robotics’ second European IP infringement case of 2026, following an earlier copyright action filed in Germany against another robot maker over Universal Robots’ software. Wherever the JAKA dispute lands, it is now as much a battle over reputations as over patents.
Earlier on GismoLand: Teradyne Robotics posts a 33% quarterly jump powered by US demand and AI.
