AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- Robotics company AutoStore has filed another lawsuit against Ocado accusing it of infringing patents
- On 1 October 2020, AutoStore had sued Ocado by filing a patent infringement lawsuit in the District Court of the United States
- Autostore is alleging that Ocado is using its patented technology for automated storage and retrieval systems and robotic vehicles. If they get the patents, Ocado will stop importing robots, grid systems and others
AutoStore Technology AS and Ocado Group PLC (LON: OCDO) are in the news again. The technology and robotics company has filed another lawsuit accusing Ocado that it is trying to steal patents developed by their team. The Norwegian maker of automated storage and retrieval systems is pursuing to claim the rights of the patents already acquired by Ocado for its smart platform technology, by filing an entitlement claim in the UK’s Intellectual Property Office. The company is now demanding orders from the US International Trade Commission to prevent the import of Ocado’s infringing products and stopping it and its UK partner from expanding in both the countries.
In October, Ocado was legally charged for infringing its intellectual property and patents. AutoStore filed in American and British courts. On 1 October, AutoStore had sued Ocado by filing the patent infringement lawsuit in the District Court of the United States. The company is now demanding orders from the US International Trade Commission to prevent the import of Ocado’s infringing products and to stop Ocado and Tharsus Group, its UK partner from expanding their business in the UK and US.
Ocado has been AutoStore’s customer since 2011-12. Company sources said that Ocado had received substantial technical information on the specialised products. Chief Executive Officer of Ocado Tim Steiner has been named as the inventor of the technology. AutoStore has said that managers at Ocado cannot be named as inventors and has demanded to be declared its team as the actual owner of the patents.
The warehouse system of AutoStore is the base of the UK online retailer’s technology, which particularly includes system moving and lifting robots around stacked storage bins to retrieve items. AutoStore CEO and president Karl Johan Lier stated that Ocado was their client and took advantage of having access to AutoStore’s exclusive technology.
AutoStore
Established in 1996, AutoStore is a technology company which is based in Norway. Large warehouses utilise its technology to organise storage and prepare orders for customers in different sectors such as retail, health care and aviation. Some of AutoStore’s clients include Asda Stores, Best Buy Co., Lufthansa AG, among others. AutoStore operates across 30 countries, through 18,000 robots and supporting more than 500 installations.
Impact on Ocado’s Shares
During the initial days of the Covid-19 pandemic, grocery stores all over the world were overburdened. Since people were not allowed to move out of their houses, it became very difficult for them to accumulate the essential items. But a few stores started delivering the goods online. Ocado was among one such retailer which reaped the benefits of an online delivery system, and its impact was clearly seen in the stocks performance.
In the first week of March this year, Ocado’s shares were trading at around GBX 1,050. Within a period of two months, Ocado was trading at GBX 2,100, witnessing a surge by 100 per cent. However, after AutoStore’s allegation, the shares of Ocado were down by 12 per cent in London.
The stocks of Ocado Group PLC ended at GBX 2,164.00 on 10 November 2020, 5.21 per cent lower from its previous close of GBX 2,283.00. The stock’s 52-week low to high price range was GBX 1,064.00 to GBX 2,895.00. OCDO had total market capitalisation (Mcap) of £16,189.87 million. In the passing ten months, the company has recorded a positive return on the price of 71.81 per cent.
Also Read: Ocado’s Mark & Spencer JV Strategy Yields Good Return
Recent Development
In the 1st week of November 2020, the company had announced its proposed acquisition of Haddington Dynamics Inc. and Kindred Systems Inc. to upgrade its robotic manipulation abilities for accelerating the commercial delivery of mechanical picking for its OSP customers. These two acquisitions by Ocado are expected to lead to an increase in the revenues of 2021 by approximately £30 million. However, a small negative impact on EBITDA is also expected due to it.
Do Read: Ocado, Just Eat and Deliveroo Emerges as The Fastest Growing UK Brands
Eyeing expansion in new markets, Ocado has recently signed agreements with grocers in the UK like Marks & Spencer Group PLC (LON: MKS) and Morrison (WM) Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW) and also with Kroger Co. in the US.
Let’s see how they performed.
The stocks of Marks & Spencer Group PLC last traded at GBX 120.45 on 10 November 2020. The stock’s 52-week low/high price hovered in a range of GBX 85.04 to GBX 228.90. MKS had total market capitalisation (Mcap) of £ 2,352.85 million. In the passing ten months, the company has recorded a negative return on the price of 44.21 per cent.
The stocks of Morrison (WM) Supermarkets PLC last traded at GBX 166.60 on 10 November 2020. The stock’s 52-week low/high price has been hovering in a range of GBX 161.75 to GBX 204.10. MRW had total market capitalisation (Mcap) of £ 4,014.53 million. In the passing ten months, the company has recorded a negative return on the price of 17.69 per cent.
