Ocado defeats AutoStore in high court robot feud (updated)
30/03/2023 18:06
(Adds detail, AutoStore response)
March 30 (Reuters) - British online supermarket and
technology group Ocado Group OCDO.L on Thursday won a high
court legal action brought by Norwegian robotics firm AutoStore
AUTO.OL after the judge dismissed its patent infringement
claims.
London listed Ocado said Judge Hacon ruled the AutoStore
patents were invalid and, in any event, Ocado did not infringe
them.
AutoStore said it disagreed with the court's decision and
said it has no impact on its business or operations.
The Norwegian firm originally asserted six patents against
Ocado in October 2020.
Of these, two were invalidated by the European Patent Office
before the judgment was handed down, two were withdrawn by
AutoStore shortly before the hearing started and the remaining
two patents were invalidated by Hacon in Thursday's judgment,
Ocado said.
It said Hacon ruled that even if he had not invalidated
these remaining patents, Ocado's technology did not infringe
them, and that Ocado's robots also did not infringe the patents
that AutoStore had withdrawn from the case.
Thursday's ruling follows Ocado's victory over AutoStore in
the International Trade Commission in the United States last
year.
Ocado said its claims against AutoStore for infringing
Ocado's intellectual property are continuing in Germany and New
Hampshire in the U.S..
(Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru and James Davey in
London; Editing by Maju Samuel, Kirsten Donovan)
((James.Davey@ThomsonReuters.com))