Ocado sued by Norway rival over technology sale claims
ONLINE GROCERY giant Ocado is unlawfully selling its technology and robots in breach of patents owned by a rival Norwegian firm, according to court documents.
AutoStore said it is suing Ocado in the UK and US over the alleged breach, filing papers at the High Court in London and the International Trade Commission in America.
Bosses say the order is to bar Ocado and its partners from manufacturing and selling infringing products and importing them into the US – and says Ocado was even a customer of AutoStore in 2012.
The company is also suing for financial damages, thought to run into the hundreds of millions of pounds.
In a statement to the stock market in response, Ocado said it had not received papers relating to the claims from AutoStore and first became aware of the issue today.
“We are not aware of any infringement of any valid AutoStore rights and of course we will investigate any claims once we receive
further added.
“We have multiple patents protecting the use of our systems in grocery and we are investigating
details,”
the company whether AutoStore has, or intends to infringe those patents.
“We will always vigorously protect our intellectual property.”
In the US filing, AutoStore points out that Ocado’s deal with US retailer Kruger to install its robotic smart platforms across 20 warehouses, saw Ocado bank £ 42.6m per site.
The filing in the High Court is calling on the courts to block sales of Ocado’s products from the UK too.
Ocado’s technology has been sold around the world, with Marks & Spencer and Morrisons buying up services in the UK.
Prior to selling its tech services, Ocado struggled to turn a profit due to wafer- thin margins of only a few per cent on its home delivery business.
Co- founder and chief executive Tim Steiner insisted he would continue looking for outside investors to buy the technology – with the Kruger deal marking a turning point, eventually catapulting the firm into the FTSE 100.
We are not aware of any infringement of any valid AutoStore rights. Ocado in response to AutoStore’s claims