The new year has started with a bang for some Boston-area startups.
Chelmsford-based Endeavor Robotics, the startup that designed the ‘Scorpion Robot,’ for the U.S. Army’s Common Robotic System-Individual (CRS-I) program, has filed a lawsuit against QinetiQ North America and Foster-Miller Inc over patent infringements. The lawsuit was first reported by Robotics Business Review.
QinetiQ North America is a Waltham, Mass.,-based subsidiary of QinetiQ Group PLC, a British defense and aerospace company.
According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, Endeavor Robotics claims that QinetiQ infringed on two patents that it owns: One for a ‘robotic platform' and one for a ‘mobile robotic vehicle.’
"We take seriously the need to protect our intellectual property rights. As a cutting-edge technology company focused on building robots that help our customers, we’ll continue to guard our patented innovations with rigor," said Endeavor Robotics CEO, Sean Bielat. "We believe our case is strong and look forward to a successful resolution of this matter."
Endeavor Robotics, which split from iRobot and was sold to private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners in 2016 for $45 million, claims that QinetiQ North America's robot for the U.S. Army's Common Robotic System-Individual program infringes on its stair-climbing robots.
The lawsuit comes at a crucial time for both companies as they vie for a contract worth half a billion dollars for the U.S. Army. The two companies are competing in a ten-month test phase of their prototypes that began in April 2018 and ends soon. The winner will snag a contract that ends in February 2027.
In December 2018, Endeavor Robotics unveiled the design of its 'Scorpion robot' that it developed for the Army. The company which is also one of BostInno's 19 Startups to Watch, boasts of a clientele that includes U.S. Department of Defense and other foreign militaries including the U.K. and Germany, law enforcement agencies and groups that respond to natural disasters. It also claims to be the world's largest provider of tactical unmanned ground vehicles, delivering more than 6,500 robots to customers in over 55 countries.
