Ocado welcomes ITC decision to reject robot infringement claims
Ocado has welcomed a decision by the International Trade Commission to rule against AutoStore on claims that the online grocer had infringed on the robotic warehouse company’s patents through its proprietary technology.
The body found that every patent that AutoStore had asserted in its ITC complaint was either invalid or not infringed by Ocado’s proprietary state of the art technology.
All of the 33 claims that originally constituted AutoStore’s complaint to the ITC have now been rejected for a second time, or abandoned by AutoStore.
AutoStore’s key cavity bot patents, the UK versions of which are the only patents being asserted against Ocado Group in the High Court case starting next week, were all found to be invalid. An additional unrelated patent was held not to be infringed.
In a statement, Ocado said it is continuing to pursue its claims against AutoStore for infringement of Ocado Group’s IP rights in both the US and Europe, including its antitrust “Walker Process” claim against AutoStore in East Virginia and its infringement of five Ocado Group patents in New Hampshire.
An Ocado spokesperson said: “We welcome the ITC’s decision, which comprehensively confirms the judge’s original findings last December. All 33 of the patent claims asserted against Ocado Group have now been confirmed for a second time to be either invalid or not infringed, demonstrating again how misguided AutoStore’s complaint has been. The ITC investigation is now at its end.
“We expect further vindication in the High Court in London in the weeks ahead, where AutoStore has already abandoned half of the patents in the case.”
