Update | DJI sues Insta360 for patent theft as drone market rivalry heats up in China
March 26, 2026 02:41 PM GMT update
We have received an official statement from Insta360 regarding the ongoing patent dispute with DJI. The company firmly denies DJI's allegations and emphasizes that its products and technologies are the result of years of independent development. As the case is still ongoing and no judgement has been issued, Insta360 is unable to disclose all details at this time. As evidence of its innovative capabilities, the manufacturer points to a recent patent dispute it won against GoPro before the US ITC.
Below, you'll find the detailed statement from Insta360 founder JK Liu regarding DJI's allegations, along with the company's official press release on the ITC case:
▶ #Response from Insta360 founder JK Liu regarding DJI's lawsuit
"Basically, this is about a few former DJI employees who joined Insta360 and applied for patents during their time with us. DJI claims ownership of these patents. I would like to clarify the following:
- DJI claims that any patents generated by employees within one year of leaving DJI should belong to DJI. We carefully reviewed the patents applied for by these employees during that period. The evidence shows that all ideas and innovations were independently created at Insta360. Regarding the area of most interest-flight control-the only potentially relevant patent is one that lets users achieve an FPV-style "building dive" with one button press. This was my idea, and I was deeply involved in refining and approving it. Under current flight restrictions, this patent isn't very useful, so the feature wasn't implemented. If DJI wanted this patent, they could've just asked for it
- Regarding the "hiding inventors to avoid accusations" claim: many of our domestic patents initially hide the inventors, who are disclosed during the PCT filing phase. This is to respect inventors while delaying the exposure of our employee roster to headhunters, which is why this system exists in the first place. Many of our patent applications also hide inventors who are not former DJI employees. If our motive were as DJI claims, we wouldn't have used these names at all
- Most of the drone-related patent applications involved in this matter were filed 4+ years ago. Since then, our product roadmap has changed significantly, and many patents have never been used
- We understand why GoPro and DJI sued us-established players hate losing market share. At the same time, many functions and accessories from DJI's 360 camera and action cameras have been called out in the media as "copied" or "strikingly similar" to Insta360's. Last year, our team found that DJI's products could fall within the scope of 28 Insta360 patents-11 of our hardware/structure patents, 8 software-method patents, 6 control-method patents, and 3 accessory patents. But we didn't sue them. Here's why: As a smaller company with limited resources, we prioritize innovation over litigation, expanding our markets through differentiation and providing consumers with more choices. Over the past year, while the major players engaged in price wars, we continued innovating. The market grew over 80%, new players took market share, but overall sales increased. Insta360's Q4 of 2025 saw our fastest growth and highest revenue in years. Of course, if someone wants to bring a legal battle to our front door, we'll do what it takes to fight for what's right. We spent over $10 million to win the GoPro case, and we're approaching this situation with the same mindset
- So, when would we actually go nuclear with our patents? Only if we're blocked from launching new products or innovating in a category. For example, if we're not allowed to make drones anymore
- As for DJI suing Insta360, let's wait for the court's evidence collection and investigation procedures to play out. This kind of thing is common in tech. In the meantime, we're focused on launching 7 or 8 new products and series this year, including gimbal cameras, lavalier microphones, and another drone. Stay tuned
- The bottom line is we respect intellectual property, but we also respect facts, legal procedures, and rulings. We are not afraid of patent lawsuits. We refuse to fight over the same pie; we prefer to expand the market through continuous innovation and earn our place. Litigation is only used as a last resort."
Original post: https://weibo.com/2955878834/5279669804864445
Insta360 Secures Complete Victory in ITC Final Ruling
U.S. International Trade Commission rejects GoPro's patent infringement claims, affirming Insta360's independent innovation.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Insta360, trading as Arashi Vision Inc. (688775.SS), secured a complete victory in Investigation No. 337-TA-1400 as the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a final determination in favor of the innovative 360 camera company.
The Commission cleared Insta360 with respect to five utility patents relating to stabilization, horizon leveling, distortion correction, and aspect ratio conversion, confirming that the patents were invalid, not infringed, or both. The Commission also reversed the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)'s prior finding of infringement as to the '052 patent relating to distortion and found additional non-infringement as to the '840 patent relating to stabilization.
In addition, the ALJ's determination that Insta360's updated product designs fall outside the scope of GoPro's asserted design patent stands and is now final.
As a result of the Commission's ruling, Insta360 will continue to import and sell its existing product lineup in the United States without restriction.
"The ITC's decision reaffirms what the industry has long recognized: Insta360's technology is built on true innovation. The facts spoke for themselves," said JK Liu, Founder of Insta360. "True innovators compete by building better tools. The ITC's decision allows us to continue doing what we do best: empowering users with bold, boundary-pushing technology."
"The future of this industry should be shaped by better products, not legal tactics that protect market share at the expense of consumers. Too often, successful companies are targeted by patent litigation from competitors looking to reclaim lost ground. What the industry needs is an environment where the best ideas prevail, not legal maneuvering. Only when innovation can compete freely will the entire ecosystem move forward."
The ITC's final determination is a total rebuke of Insta360's competitors' efforts to use meritless patent assertions to improperly block lawful competition. The evidentiary record developed during the investigation demonstrated that Insta360 independently developed its technology and that GoPro's allegations lacked merit. The Commission's final determination represents a complete resolution of the investigation in Insta360's favor.
Original press release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/insta360-secures-complete-victory-in-itc-final-ruling-302699307.html
Original article continues as follows:
The rivalry between two Chinese camera and drone manufacturers has reached new heights. DJI has officially filed a lawsuit against Insta360 and its parent company Arashi Vision with the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court. The allegations are serious: Insta360 is accused of unlawfully using six key DJI patents related to flight control, image processing and hardware design.
At the core of this legal dispute are former DJI employees who filed new patents within one year of joining Insta360. Under Chinese law, inventions made by an employee within twelve months of leaving a company and closely related to their previous work belong to their former employer. DJI is now demanding an official transfer of these patent rights.
Insta360 CEO Liu Jingkang, also known as JK Liu, has strongly denied the allegations on Weibo, stating the company’s internal investigations deliver a clear picture: All of the ideas mentioned in the lawsuit were created within Insta360. JK Liu added that Insta360 initially kept the identities of the real inventors anonymous not out of guilt, but to protect its developers from competitors’ aggressive headhunters. Liu also claimed that the patents in question have remained unused for around five years. For example, an automatic dive function mentioned in the complaint would never make it into a finished product due to strict aviation laws.
Rather than simply defending Insta360, JK Liu has launched a direct attack on DJI, claiming that the market leader doesn’t shy away from copying components and software features. Insta360’s internal surveys heavily implicate DJI, suggesting current DJI cameras such as the Osmo 360 potentially infringe 28 patents owned by Insta360. Despite all this, JK Liu isn’t planning to launch a legal counterattack. His comparatively small company would rather invest its resources into new technologies than engage expensive lawyers. In the US, Liu recently demonstrated that Insta360 can indeed win such legal battles: The US International Trade Commission (ITC) dismissed all of GoPro’s patent lawsuits against the company.
The timing of this court hearing is highly deliberate. Both tech giants have encroached on each other’s territories for a long time. DJI has been targeting the lucrative 360-degree camera market with models like the Osmo 360, whilst Insta360 has been trying to challenge DJI’s dominance in the drone segment. For instance, its Antigravity sub-brand launched the A1 in late 2025 as the first true 360-degree drone, putting DJI under massive pressure to respond. The company’s answer is set to arrive on Thursday, 26 March in the form of the new Avata 360. This ongoing hardware war has already left its mark on the stock market. The share price of Insta360’s parent company Arashi Vision plummeted by almost seven percent after DJI’s complaint became public.
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