(Yicai Global) May 18 -- DJI Technology has reportedly rebutted online rumors that the Chinese drone maker has refused to pay fines and has withdrawn from the US market.

DJI has made no such statements in official announcements or external communications, the China Securities Journal reported the Shenzhen-based company as saying.

In 2021, US aerospace firm Textron sued DJI for USD367 million in damages for infringement of its auto-hover and vehicle tracking patents. Textron won a USD279 million verdict from a federal jury in Waco, Texas on April 21, ruling that DJI knowingly infringed its patents.

Reuters reported that a DJI spokesperson said on April 24 that the firm “strongly disagrees” with the verdict and will "vigorously pursue all options" to defend its legal rights. "Textron is a military helicopter company. DJI is a civilian drone company. No commonality exists between the technologies,” the person said.

DJI's technological solution was used in 2009, two years before Textron's patent application, and there was no patent infringement, sources close to DJI pointed out. Textron lawyers deliberately played up DJI's status as a firm blacklisted by the US defense department as a "Chinese military company" to influence the jury's decision, they added.

The defense department included DJI and surveillance equipment maker Dahua Technology on an investment blacklist based on their alleged ties to China’s military, according to a Reuters report last October. “DJI  has never marketed or sold its products for military use in any country,” it reportedly said at the time.

Editor: Martin Kadiev