Steptoe Secures ITC Win for Autel in Patent Dispute with

Steptoe has secured a significant trial victory for Autel Robotics USA at the US International Trade Commission (ITC). On March 2, the chief administrative law judge of the ITC found that SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd. and seven related entities (together known as “DJI”), the world’s largest maker of consumer drones, violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, by importing and selling drones that infringe US Patent No. 9, 260,184 belonging to Autel.

As a result, the chief administrative law judge recommended that the infringing products be excluded from importation into the United States, including the Mavic Pro, Mavic Pro Platinum, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Zoom, Mavic Air, and Spark. Together these represent some of DJI’s most popular drones sold in the United States. 

The chief administrative law judge’s initial determination also recommended a cease and desist order prohibiting DJI from selling any of those products already in the United States at the time the exclusion order issues. It also granted Autel’s request that DJI post a 9.9% bond during the 60-day presidential review period following the exclusion order. 

If the chief administrative law judge’s determination is upheld by the full commission, these products could be taken off the US market as early as July. In the meantime, Autel has filed a petition with the ITC to extend the exclusion order to include other popular DJI products including the Phantom 4 and Inspire series drones. 

The Steptoe team that secured this victory for Autel is led by Tim Bickham and includes lawyers John Abramic, Matt Bathon, Mike Flynn-O’Brien, Kate Johnson, Candice Kwark, Hui Shen, and Andrew Xue.   

About Steptoe 

In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.

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