DJI Patent challenged by a suspected Textron “straw man” in China

A patent of SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd, entitled "a flight mission processing method, device, and system", is under invalid challenge, according to an announcement released by the China National Intellectual Property Administration(CNIPA) on January 2.

The claimant for invalidation is a natural person named "Wang Lin", a suspected “straw man” hired by DJI’s American rival Textron Inc considering that DJI’s major current patent disputes are with Textron in both China and US, said Chinese IP analysts.

In April 2023, Textron won $278.9 million in a US patent dispute with DJI, hitting a new patent infringement compensation record for Chinese companies involved in US disputes.

The two sides then escalated their lawsuits in both China and the US.

In July 2023, DJI was asked by a US court to hand over the source codes of its disputed products, and DJI also failed in its battle for jurisdiction.

In the same month, DJI countersued Textron for patent infringement in the US. In addition, it launched invalidation challenges to Textron's patents in China. The relevant challenged patents are still under trial.

The patent in the latest challenge, filed in 2014 through PCT international application, involves a solution to reproduce some or all of the flight missions by loading the recorded data. Its Chinese patent number is ZL201480016276.7.

CNIPA is scheduled to hold an oral hearing of the case on January 24.