Teradyne Robotics takes decisive legal action to protect European innovation and industrial resilience

ODENSE, Denmark – March 10, 2026: Teradyne Robotics A/S, a subsidiary of Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) and global leader in advanced robotics solutions, today announced it has taken legal action in Germany against the German subsidiary of the Chinese robot company Elite Robots for copyright infringement of Universal Robots’ software – a case that highlights a broader challenge for Europe’s industrial future.

The company believes it has irrefutable evidence of copyright infringement by Elite Robots and will be looking to the German justice system to protect its intellectual property rights. Teradyne Robotics stresses that wider interests are at stake and that, without strong enforcement of intellectual property rights, Europe risks losing its ability to scale automation, maintain competitiveness, and safeguard high-standard manufacturing.

President of the Teradyne Robotics Group, Jean-Pierre Hathout said: 
“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.” Hathout continued “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.”

Teradyne Robotics has already sent a cease-and-desist letter to Elite Robots’ affiliate in Germany and has now referred the matter to German courts.

This outreach reflects a shared responsibility: if Europe allows intellectual property infringements to go unchecked, it effectively subsidizes non-European competitors while undermining its own innovation champions. Teradyne Robotics is calling on policymakers and industry leaders to ensure Europe remains a secure environment for innovation.

Hathout said “Teradyne Robotics is choosing to take a stand against any competitors willing to copy proprietary hardware or software design to undercut on price, and we invite other leaders to join us in defending the integrity of our industry and strength of our economy.”

In addition to taking action against copyright infringement, Teradyne Robotics has alerted relevant safety authorities in Europe about safety concerns relating to Elite Robots’ robots.

Teradyne Robotics, which owns both Universal Robots and MiR, has pioneered standards for robot safety and specializes in advanced robotics which, subject to safety assessment, can work alongside people in manufacturing and logistics. In recent years it has seen growing competition from robot companies which sometimes lack the same rigorous approach to safety.

Consumer confidence is critical if Europe is to continue to benefit from automation. Recent figures indicate that businesses in Europe have high expectations of robotics. 48% of European manufacturers believe that robotics will be the most transformative technology by 2030, 68% cite productivity as the top driver of automation and 84% report a positive employee response to robot automation.