With advanced motion control, the UR8 Long can conduct automotive quality inspection. Source: Universal Robots
Teradyne Robotics A/S, the Odense, Denmark-based subsidiary of Teradyne Inc. and parent company of Universal Robots (UR) and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), is suing the German subsidiary of Elite Robots. Teradyne Robotics has accused the Chinese collaborative robot maker of infringing on UR’s proprietary software.
Teradyne said it has “irrefutable evidence” of copyright infringement, though the specifics of Elite Robots’ alleged patent violations were unclear at press time. The company previously issued a cease-and-desist letter to Elite Robots’ German affiliate and has now escalated the matter to German courts.
Framing the lawsuit as more than a standard intellectual property (IP) dispute, Teradyne Robotics called on European policymakers and industry leaders to take a stronger stance against IP violations. It warned that unchecked infringement effectively subsidizes non-European rivals at the expense of domestic innovators.
“This decisive step underscores our commitment to protecting intellectual property and ensuring automation customers have access to the safe and high-quality solutions they deserve,” said Teradyne Robotics president Jean-Pierre Hathout. “Both automation and innovation are critical to Europe’s future. We will not allow the products of companies that unlawfully copy protected technologies to compromise customer experience, the intellectual property of our technology sector, or Europe’s industrial future.”
The lawsuit comes amid growing concern over Chinese competition in industrial robotics worldwide, hitting particularly hard in Europe. Teradyne Robotics noted that 48% of European manufacturers view robotics as the most transformative technology by 2030.
Meanwhile, the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association, a German trade group, recently warned that Germany is losing ground in the global robotics race, partly due to low-cost competition from Asia.
UR is also facing increased competition from established industrial automation providers such as ABB, FANUC, and KUKA, all of which have launched advanced cobot offerings.
Hathout added that Teradyne Robotics is “choosing to take a stand against any competitors willing to copy proprietary hardware or software design to undercut on price.”
The company also alerted European safety authorities about concerns related to Elite Robots’ cobot arms, citing growing competition from manufacturers that do not apply the same rigorous safety standards, which could erode consumer confidence in robotics.
Founded in Shanghai in 2016, Elite Robots has expanded into Western markets with a line of force- and power-limited arms. It claimed to have more than 10,000 deployments across more than 35 countries and over 200 patents and IP assets. The Robot Report reached out to the company for comment about the lawsuit but had not heard back at press time.
UR leads Teradyne Robotics portfolio
Teradyne acquired UR in 2015 for $285 million and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) provider MiR in 2018 for $272 million. UR has long been a leader in collaborative robot arms, selling more than 100,000 units worldwide, but the company is navigating a challenging period.
After strong growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, UR posted $311 million in revenue in 2021, up 41% from 2020. Growth peaked at $326 million in 2022, then declined to $304 million in 2023 and $293 million in 2024.
UR’s financial picture became murkier in 2025 when Teradyne began reporting robotics revenue at the segment level in Q4, without separating UR and MiR. Through the first three quarters, UR generated $174 million, while MiR brought in $45 million. Robotics revenue grew 19% from Q3 to Q4, reaching $89 million, with most of that coming from UR. Based on these figures, UR likely earned around $240 million to $250 million for 2025, a notable decline from $293 million in 2024.
Teradyne Robotics also reduced its workforce by roughly 25% through two rounds of layoffs in 2025. It also restructured its organization, consolidating the customer-facing sales, marketing, and service operations of UR and MiR under unified leadership.
Teradyne continues to invest in robotics
Despite these challenges, Teradyne has continue to invest in its robotics group. A key example is its planned U.S. Operations Hub in Wixom, Mich., a 67,000-sq.-ft. facility in Metro Detroit scheduled to open in 2026.
The hub will manufacture UR cobots and eventually MiR AMRs, while serving as a regional training, service, and customer experience center. The factory will be Teradyne Robotics’ third major manufacturing site globally, alongside Denmark and China, and the company said it expects the site to create more than 200 jobs.
“We’re investing at a time when others are cautious,” Hathout said. “We believe things are going to get better, and we’re going to be ahead of the curve when they do.” The location was chosen partly for proximity to major automotive and manufacturing customers, and reportedly to support a large, undisclosed e-commerce client, widely believed to be Amazon, whose new Vulcan warehouse robot incorporates a UR cobot arm.
Separately, Teradyne Robotics was the defendant in another patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Sensor360, which alleged that Teradyne’s robots infringed a patent covering self-organizing sensor networks. That case was jointly dismissed on Feb. 24, 2026, with Sensor360’s claims dropped with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled. Any settlement terms were not disclosed.
The Robot Report will continue to follow developments in the German court system related to the Elite Robots case.
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