Ocado prevails over AutoStore at the ITC
Ocado Group has once again seen off a US International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation prompted by AutoStore Holdings, which hoped to block the import of Ocado’s warehouse robot technology into the US.
In a notice published on Thursday, March 10, the ITC reinforced a prior administration law judge’s (ALJ) ruling in December 2021 that Ocado had not infringed four of AutoStore’s patents and that three were invalid.
Following this ruling, both parties filed joint petitions for review on December 17.
The commission agreed to review the ALJ’s determination on claim construction, including the terms “vehicle body” and “a plurality of wheels attached to the vehicle body”; the finding that claims in two of the patents were invalid as indefinite; and the finding that the “economic prong of the domestic industry” was satisfied by the initial analysis.
On review, the commission this week affirmed, with modifications, the ALJ’s construction of the terms and fully affirmed the ALJ’s finding of indefiniteness.
Having affirmed that the claims of the three patents were invalid and that the fourth patent was not infringed, the commission decided to take no position on the economic prong requirement.
Case background
The legal dispute between two robotics companies began when AutoStore began marketing two new products in early 2020, a software product called Router and its Blackline robot. Following this, AutoStore launched litigation against Ocado and two of its suppliers, claiming that they had infringed its patents.
This sparked international litigation, with Ocado filing a defence in the England and Wales High Court, an infringement suit in a New Hampshire district court, and complaints against AutoStore’s European subsidiaries in Munich.
AutoStore asked the ITC to conduct an investigation into Ocado in November 2020, alleging that Ocado had infringed five of its patents covering automated storage and warehouse robots.
In the judgment handed down on December 13, 2020, the commission ruled in favour of Ocado, finding three of the four AutoStore patents invalid and the fourth not infringed. The fifth patent was abandoned the night before trial.
Following the judgment , Ocado said in a statement: “We have consistently stated that Ocado does not infringe any valid AutoStore IP, and we are pleased that the judge has now agreed with us. This was a misconceived attempt by AutoStore to interfere with our business in the United States.”
Ocado continues to pursue its infringement claims against AutoStore in the US and Europe.
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