Ocado wins ruling in patent fight over robot warehouses

Bloomberg

Ocado Group Plc shares surged after the UK company won the first round in a patent-infringement case filed by rival AutoStore Holdings Ltd that has been hanging over the online grocery technology provider.
Ocado shares rose as much as 9%, while Autostore dropped as much as 15%. Three AutoStore patents are invalid, while Ocado doesn’t infringe a fourth, US International Trade Commission Judge Charles Bullock said in a notice posted on the agency’s website.
The judge’s findings of no violation of AutoStore patent rights are subject to review by the commission, which has the power to block or limit the types of robots that Ocado can bring into the US. The final decision is scheduled for April.
The interim finding is a key ruling for Ocado whose value has soared by more than 400% since 2016 as investors bet that the UK company will become the premier provider of online grocery delivery services
worldwide. The company started out as the online delivery partner of Waitrose, an upmarket UK grocer, but has since been repositioning itself as a technology company that can provide an “end-to-end” logistics and distribution platform that it can license to retailers around the world.
AutoStore, which only became a public company in October, fell sharply. The company is also trying to pursue growth of its automated warehouse robots in the key US grocery market.
Both companies use vertical grid robotic warehouse systems and have been quarreling over patents in various jurisdictions since 2016 but the battle heated up just before Ocado signed an agreement for its Smart Platform with Kroger Co, one of the biggest US supermarket chains.
While there are about 20 players worldwide that handle fulfillment of online grocery orders, the cube-shaped automation systems of Ocado and AutoStore are seen as potential winners because they save a lot of space, analysts say.
AutoStore says its technology forms the basis of Ocado’s Smart Platform.