A patent fight that began as a press release now has a docket number and a list of claims. Teradyne Robotics A/S, the Danish company that owns Universal Robots, is asserting three European patents against JAKA Robotics GmbH, the German subsidiary of the Chinese collaborative robot maker. The case sits with the Unified Patent Court’s Copenhagen Local Division as UPC-CFI-0003057/2026. It was filed on August 24, 2026 and made public on August 27, 2026.
The newly surfaced detail is which patents are actually in play. All three share a March 2006 priority date and are assigned to Universal Robots, which puts them close to the origin of the modern cobot arm:
- EP1996376, Programmable robot and user interface. Covers a programmable robot system driven by a touchscreen that displays a 3D representation of the robot and lets an operator control its movements.
- EP3045273, Joint for a robot. Covers a robot-joint safety brake built from a solenoid, a ratchet and an annular friction member associated with the motor axle.
- EP3530420, Joint for a robot. Covers aspects of robot-joint construction, including output flanges and the structures that connect adjacent joints.
Read together, they map out what makes a UR arm a UR arm. There is the teach-by-touchscreen workflow, the brake that holds a powered joint when the power goes away, and the mechanical recipe for stacking those joints into a working arm. Teradyne’s complaint targets a broad range of JAKA collaborative robots sold in Europe rather than one model. Specific models have not appeared in the public docket.
The stakes are geographic. A ruling at the UPC can take effect across 17 of the current 18 EU Member States participating in the court, and Teradyne says certain countries outside the UPC Agreement, including the United Kingdom and Spain, are also included in the proceedings. “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 the Teradyne Robotics Group.
JAKA is not absorbing this quietly. On August 28, 2026 the company rejected any characterization suggesting it had unlawfully copied Universal Robots technology or products, and said it had received no communication from Teradyne about the allegations, directly or through legal representatives. Its advisers then checked the relevant court system and reported that, as of September 2, 2026, no patent infringement proceedings had been filed or opened against it. On September 3, 2026 JAKA announced its own legal action seeking injunctive relief against what it calls “false, misleading and damaging” public statements. Universal Robots VP of R&D and CTO David Brandt answered: “I can assure you that we have filed the case with the courts in Copenhagen,” allowing that the paperwork may not have been served yet.
This is Teradyne Robotics’ second European intellectual property case of 2026. The first was a copyright infringement case in Germany against Elite Robots’ German subsidiary in February 2026.
Earlier on GismoLand: Teradyne Robotics posts a 33% quarterly jump powered by US demand and AI.
