Kodiak Robotics Inc is adding Hesai Technology Co’s LIDAR to its autonomous trucks for peripheral vision. The trucks will keep their one forward-facing Luminar LIDAR and add Hesai LIDAR on each side of the truck. Although a Silicon Valley startup, Kodiak company is testing autonomous, long-haul trucking between Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston. Hesai, headquartered in Shanghai, China, recently raised $173 Million in Series C funding.

Hesai was sued by Velodyne Lidar for patent infringement in 2019, but it has settled with a global cross license deal. Hesai’s patent portfolio is roughly ⅓ of Velodyne’s (6 vs 19 issued patents), so Hesai must have some important patents to bring Velodyne to a cross-licensing deal. Cross-licensing is one of the best uses for patents. If you don’t have patents, all you have is cash to give to your competition in a settlement. 

With legal issues behind it, an OEM deal made, and recent funding, Hesai has been validated legally, commercially and financially, so expect to hear more progress from it soon.

Explore Hesai’s patent portfolio with the Patent Forecast® and use the Patent Matrix® Diagrams to examine its claims.