Tesla Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Robotics Patent Infringement

Tesla is facing a lawsuit from Perrone Robotics, a company based in Charlottesville, Virginia, over alleged infringement of five patents related to robotics systems for self-driving vehicles. The suit, filed in Alexandria, Virginia, claims that Tesla knowingly infringed on these patents, which cover a General Purpose Operating System for Robotics, known as GPROS.

Perrone Robotics asserts that all Tesla vehicles utilizing the Autopilot suite within the last six years are in violation of these patents. The founder of Perrone Robotics, Paul Perrone, developed the GPROS, which includes extensions for autonomous vehicle controls, path planning, and sensor fusion.

Notably, one of the patents, U.S. 10,331,136, was offered to Tesla back in 2017 but was rejected by the company. The lawsuit aims to stop any further infringements and seeks unspecified damages from Tesla.

This legal battle is part of a broader trend where Tesla has been involved in various patent disputes, including a recent case with Perceptive Automata LLC, which accused Tesla of infringing on AI models used to interpret pedestrian and cyclist intent via cameras.

Tesla's motion to dismiss that case was partially denied earlier this month. Additionally, Tesla settled a lawsuit with Arsus LLC regarding its Autopilot's electronic stability features. Tesla has been relatively successful in defending itself against autonomous vehicle-related lawsuits, winning about 70 percent since 2020, but it often opts for settlements to avoid high discovery costs.

This lawsuit from Perrone Robotics, identified as Perrone Robotics Inc v Tesla Inc, is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, case number 25-02156. As of now, Tesla has not listed an attorney for this case, indicating that the legal proceedings are still in their early stages.