Boeing, Insitu sued

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Boeing and Insitu Inc. are being sued for allegedly infringing patents connected to a retrieval system for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Advanced Aerospace Technologies Inc., in a companion action, also filed suit against the U.S. government, seeking royalties for the purchase or use of UAVs using its technology for which it said it wasn't paid.

"These lawsuits are about obtaining due compensation for the AATI inventions that have been incorporated by Insitu and Boeing into the enormously successful Skyhook retrieval system," said AATI legal counsel Craig King of the Arent Fox law firm.

"We have not sought an injunction -- and plan no actions as part of these lawsuits that might in any way impair the continued use of the unmanned aerial systems in question.

"The safety of our warfighters and performance of military missions is of paramount concern to AATI and neither will be affected by these lawsuits."

In the suit against Boeing and Insitu, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, AATI owner William Randall McDonnell said the patented retrieval system was provided to Insitu, contributed to the success of Insitu UAV products but no royalties were paid.

Insitu, which calls the system Skyhook, is the maker of ScanEagle, NightEagle, Insight, GeoRanger, ScanEagle Compressed Carriage and Integrator UAV systems.

The suit was filed in St. Louis. AATI is seeking more than $160 million for patent infringement.

In the suit against the government, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, Boeing and Insitu would under law have to reimburse the government for any monetary judgment awarded if AATI wins the action in the Federal Court of Claims.

"I am greatly disappointed that Insitu, and then Boeing, declined to pay the compensation due for their use of my inventions -- and that I now must resort to court action," McDonnell said.