AutoStore and Ocado reach deal to settle patent litigation claims (updated)
22/07/2023 14:41
(Adds background, details from the statement)
July 22 (Reuters) - Norwegian robotics firm AutoStore
will pay 200 million pounds ($257.1 million) to British online
supermarket group Ocado as part of a deal between the warehouse
tech pioneers to settle all outstanding patent litigation
claims, they said on Saturday.
Both AutoStore AUTO.OL and Ocado OCDO.L license their
technology to retailers all over the world and the companies had
engaged in numerous legal battles in different countries to
defend their intellectual property.
Under the deal announced in a statement on Saturday, all the
patent litigation claims will be withdrawn globally and both
firms can continue to use and market all their own existing
products without challenge.
AutoStore will pay the 200 million pounds to Ocado in
instalments over a two-year period, according to the statement.
It did not give a reason for the agreed payment.
The agreement does not allow for collaboration, technology
support between the companies, or access to actual products, the
statement said.
It does, however, grant access to both the companies to
certain portions of each other's patent portfolios for them to
use or manufacture their own products.
($1 = 0.7779 pounds)
(Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru
Editing by Jason Neely and Helen Popper)
((Anirudh.Saligrama@thomsonreuters.com; @journoanirudh on
Twitter;))