Global law firm Hogan Lovells counseled autonomous drone technology developer Percepto in securing a nationwide waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. In a broad approval, the FAA granted Percepto authorization to operate at qualifying sites across the country remotely for increased safety, efficiency, and ease of operation. Further details can be found here.

Percepto’s “drone-in-a-box” technology, used by electric utilities, oil & gas, solar power stations, and mining operations, detects infrastructure problems, enabling faster response times and ensuring remedial action is taken where it is needed most. Percepto’s waiver enables the expansion of automated drone inspection and monitoring without the lengthy wait that has traditionally been necessary for site-specific BVLOS approvals.

Hogan Lovells partner Lisa Ellman, who leads the firm’s Uncrewed Aviation Systems practice, said: “Obtaining authorization from the FAA to conduct BVLOS operations nationwide is a significant win for Percepto, and we are proud to have helped our client bring this over the finish line. In addition to being an important step for the industry as a whole, we hope this a sign the FAA will continue to encourage innovation by key critical infrastructure operators in the field of AI.”

In addition to Ellman, Washington, D.C.-based counsel Patrick Rizzi and senior associate Matthew Clark also advised Percepto. Hogan Lovells’ UAS team also includes Arjun Garg, Emily Kimball, and Allisa Newman.