SAN JOSE, Calif. (February 9, 2022) – Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) today announced it has won a patent challenge brought by competitor Quanergy. In making its ruling, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the patentability of all claims in Velodyne’s pioneering 7,969,558 patent. The ‘558 patent relates to a lidar-based 3D point cloud measuring system used for robotics, industrial solutions, intelligent infrastructure, autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and other applications.
“Velodyne is pleased with the Federal Circuit’s decision, which confirms the validity of our groundbreaking patent for surround view lidar technology,” said Dr. Ted Tewksbury, CEO, Velodyne Lidar. “We were confident we would prevail because our company invented real-time surround view lidar and holds a number of foundational patents relative to this technology. Velodyne is an invention-driven company with intellectual property that is fundamental to the industry. We are committed to protecting our valuable intellectual property assets and are evaluating our options for enforcement against Quanergy and all other infringers.”
Velodyne’s lidar technology provides critical 3D vision for autonomous solutions in a wide variety of industries to achieve a safer, more efficient and sustainable future. The company’s award-winning lidar sensors deliver the flexibility, quality and performance to meet the needs of industrial and robotics, intelligent infrastructure, automotive and other markets.
This press release contains “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without limitation, all statements other than historical fact and include, without limitation, statements regarding Velodyne’s target markets, new products, development efforts, and competition. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “can,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Velodyne’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include uncertainties regarding government regulation and adoption of lidar, the uncertain impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Velodyne’s and its customers’ businesses; Velodyne’s ability to manage growth; Velodyne’s ability to execute its business plan; uncertainties related to the ability of Velodyne’s customers to commercialize their products and the ultimate market acceptance of these products; the rate and degree of market acceptance of Velodyne’s products; the success of other competing lidar and sensor-related products and services that exist or may become available; uncertainties related to Velodyne’s current litigation and potential litigation involving Velodyne or the validity or enforceability of Velodyne’s intellectual property; and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for Velodyne’s products and services. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with Velodyne’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of Velodyne’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Velodyne as of the date hereof, Velodyne undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.