When a humanoid robot enters a room, its design speaks before it moves. Proportions signal balance. Materials suggest durability. Color and posture communicate intent. Long before a robot performs a task, people decide whether they trust it.

For Fourier, design is not an aesthetic layer applied after engineering. It is the visible architecture of embodied AI (physical robots that combine perception, cognition and action to operate in the real world) and a structural expression of how the robot moves, interacts and integrates into human environments. It is also a strategic asset that requires international protection, which Fourier safeguards globally through the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs.

From Rehabilitation Robots to Embodied AI

Founded in 2015, Fourier began in medical rehabilitation robotics. Its early exoskeleton systems helped patients with neurological impairments stand and walk again. In hospitals and therapy centers, robots were not experimental concepts but physical partners in recovery. That context shaped the company’s long-term direction. Robots had to function reliably in sensitive human environments, and they had to be accepted there.

The company’s name reflects this philosophy. Fourier is named after the Fourier Transform, a mathematical principle showing that complex signals can be broken into simpler waves, revealing underlying structure. This symbolizes Fourier’s mission to uncover deeper truths in human movement and cognition and translate them into robotics technology.

“At the heart of Fourier is a simple mission,” explains Roger Cai, Director of Robot Application R&D of Fourier. “We leverage full-stack robotics technology to transform and enrich people’s lives.”

Over the past decade, the mission has translated into measurable impact: helping patients stand again, supporting stroke survivors in regaining upper-limb function, enabling elderly individuals to recover independence. What began as rehabilitation robotics has evolved into a broader embodied AI platform.

Bringing this vision to life took ten years of continuous engineering iteration, clinical validation and system integration. Today, Fourier offers a lineup of more than 40 robotic solutions and has served more than 2,000 hospitals and institutions across 40 countries and areas, accelerating the real-world adoption of embodied AI. Building on this foundation, the company is now expanding into manufacturing, logistics, education and commercial services, integrating humanoid robotics into everyday environments.

The GRx Humanoid Robot Series for General Purpose

The GRx series (GR for General Robotics) represents Fourier’s self-developed bipedal humanoid platform. Since the launch of GR-1 in 2023, the series has evolved through three generations, with the latest GR-3 released in August 2025.

Fourier describes its humanoid strategy as “Made for AI.” This philosophy translates into six core design values: locomotion, manipulation, user experience, cognition, bionic design and commercial viability. These principles guide the robot’s architecture from the earliest stages of development, ensuring it functions as a full-stack platform capable of supporting long-term AI evolution.

“In humanoid robotics, design goes far beyond visual appearance,” says Cai. “It represents the integration of functional engineering, system architecture and human-centric interaction.”

GR-2’s form is inseparable from performance. Its 53 independently controllable joints enable precise, human-like motion. Serial joint configurations and internal wiring improve maintainability and modularity. Hollow waist detailing adds visual clarity without compromising structural logic. Every visible element reflects mechanical reasoning.

Fourier’s broader product philosophy is summarized as “Innovative, Reliable, Accessible.” Innovation drives progress, but reliability and accessibility ensure technologies can be trusted, scaled and widely adopted. This philosophy is reinforced through interdisciplinary collaboration and continuous user feedback. Engineers, designers, developers and customers contribute insights at every stage of development. The approach is fundamentally need-driven: products are defined by real application scenarios rather than technology alone. This ensures that innovation remains grounded, relevant and deployable.

GR-3 – The Companion Robot that offers Human-Robot Interaction

As the GRx series evolved, so did its design language. For the latest generation, GR-3, Fourier introduced a stronger emphasis on warmth and responsiveness. Defined internally as a “Care-bot,” GR-3 is designed to provide both social and assistive companionship in diverse settings.

At the product level, Fourier follows a human-centered approach: robots are designed to serve people first. Beyond functionality, the company emphasizes companionship and emotional comfort. Human–robot interaction, in this view, should move beyond a simple user–tool relationship and become both useful and caring.

For GRx humanoids, bionic design works hand-in-hand with engineering. Materials, proportions, color palettes and tactile surfaces are carefully selected to create warmth and trust. Good industrial design reduces intimidation and makes interaction feel natural and safe. In environments such as hospitals, classrooms or public spaces, these signals matter as much as technical capability. Hardware design in humanoid robotics therefore bridges function and emotion. It ensures advanced systems are not only operationally capable, but socially acceptable.

Why Protection of Humanoid Robot Designs Matters to Fourier

In a competitive global robotics market, technological advances quickly attract attention, but design defines identity. For humanoid systems, proportions, structural articulation and visual language reflect years of engineering investment and system integration. Appearance directly shapes perceptions of safety, usability and trust, particularly in healthcare, education and public environments. Protecting design therefore safeguards technical innovation, reinforces brand credibility, accelerates time-to-market and supports partnerships and investment opportunities in key regions.

“In an increasingly competitive environment, robust design protection helps preserve differentiation,” Cai explains. “It ensures that the engineering decisions, interaction logic and creative investment behind the product are not easily replicated.”

For Fourier, this translates into protecting hardware architecture, system-level integration and industrial design as long-term strategic assets that anchor its global competitiveness.

Combining Open Innovation with Design Protection for State-of-the-Art AI Robots

As Fourier expanded internationally, it structured its intellectual property approach around a complementary model: protected physical systems and selectively open software.

Core hardware and industrial design remain protected to secure durable competitive advantage. At the same time, selected software platforms are made open to encourage experimentation, lower barriers for developers and accelerate embodied AI research. This deliberate openness supports rapid iteration, ecosystem growth and collaborative progress.

This distinction underpins Fourier’s dual strategy: rapid, collaborative software development on one hand, and durable, internationally protected industrial design on the other. By allowing software ecosystems to evolve quickly while securing the robot’s physical identity through formal design protection, the company aligns short-term innovation cycles with long-term brand and market positioning.

Protecting Fourier’s Designs Internationally through the Hague System

Fourier holds two international industrial design registrations for GR-2 under the Hague System (DM/247 908 and DM/247 909), registered in 2025. These registrations cover key markets including Japan, the Republic of Korea and the European Union, reflecting the company’s focus on major international markets.

Beyond these two registrations, the company has taken concrete steps to extend international design protection to its latest generation, GR-3, by filing additional international applications under the Hague System. These designs are expected to be published in the International Designs Bulletin shortly. Design protection has become a standardized component of Fourier’s global product launch strategy.

The Hague System provides a one-stop pathway to secure industrial design protection in multiple major markets. For Fourier, the operational impact has been substantial. Instead of coordinating separate filings country by country, we manage a single international procedure. This approach has reduced internal administrative workload at the filing stage by an estimated 60 to 80 percent, eliminating the need to engage multiple local firms at the outset.

The financial effect is similarly significant. According to Fourier, the company sees approximate cost savings of 30 to 60 percent at the initial application stage compared to separate national filings. Much of this efficiency comes from avoiding individual local attorney fees in each designated country unless a refusal is issued. The ability to include up to 100 designs in one application further strengthens economies of scale, particularly relevant when protecting multiple structural components across a humanoid robot platform.

Speed and predictability also play a strategic role. Fourier explains that the company typically receives its International Registration within one to two months of filing. With the standardized 6- or 12-month refusal period under the Hague framework, the company can clearly map its global IP position and align protection with product launch schedules — an alignment that would be considerably more complex under fragmented national systems.

Registration with the Hague System also strengthens brand credibility. It signals technological maturity and originality, supports due diligence in cross-border partnerships, and reinforces confidence among distributors, institutional customers and investors.

Fourier has found that internationally recognized design rights also support due diligence processes in cross-border partnerships and commercial negotiations. Clear ownership of protected industrial design reinforces confidence among distributors, institutional buyers and potential investors evaluating long-term collaboration.

For Fourier, protecting industrial design is not merely a legal safeguard. It is a strategic enabler ensuring that as humanoid robots move from laboratories into everyday life, their form, identity and engineering integrity remain protected across borders.

Source: Fourier: Healthcare Robots with Humanoid Designs