Caterpillar Takes Aim at Pittsburgh Startup Over Patent Dispute

Caterpillar, the 100-year-old heavy construction equipment giant, has filed a patent lawsuit against Bluelight Machines, a small Pittsburgh startup. The company claims that Bluelight is violating six of its patents related to compaction technology and autonomous operation.

The CEO of Bluelight, Dick Zhang, wrote an open letter on LinkedIn explaining the situation, stating 'We think it's a no-merits set of allegations.' He also pointed out that Caterpillar didn't show much interest in the business during its first year and a half before sales started to increase and what he refers to as 'hostility' began.

The lawsuit claims that Bluelight's technology wasn't created from scratch, but rather was initially limited to Caterpillar machines. The company argues that because it paid to develop innovations that a startup then packaged and sold at a fraction of the cost, it is now losing customers to technology that it effectively helped create.