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Highlights
- Ocado Group PLC’s shares dropped over 7 per cent on Friday after its competitor AutoStore said a German court had halted Ocado’s proceedings against AutoStore.
- The Munich District Court considered Ocado’s intellectual property IP rights argument invalid.
- Ocado reportedly stated that the case would resume at a later time and that AutoStore had given a partial account of the case.
Online grocery retail company Ocado Group PLC’s (LON:OCDO) shares dropped over 7 per cent on Friday late hour trade after its competitor AutoStore issued a statement saying a German court had stayed Ocado’s proceedings against AutoStore.
Ocado’s robot wars with AutoStore
The Munich District Court in Germany halted Ocado’s legal proceedings, stating it considered Ocado’s intellectual property (IP) rights argument invalid in its case against AutoStore.
According to media reports, Ocado stated that the case would continue at a later time and that AutoStore had given a partial account of the legal proceedings.
Ocado has been embroiled in a legal battle with warehouse automation store, AutoStore, over IP rights for several years.
Both companies are involved in labour-saving storage and automation technology. Another infringement claims case between AutoStore and Ocado is currently ongoing in the UK, which was launched in 2020. In December 2021, Ocado had won a patent infringement case against AutoStore in the US.
The news comes just days after Ocado had announced its latest robotic technology, aimed at shortening delivery times, reducing operating costs and more.
Ocado’s retail Q4 trading statement
Ocado’s retail revenue, for 13 weeks to 28th November 2021, stood at £547.8 million, compared to £570.1 million in the year before. It had a growth rate of 31.6 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.
During the period, its average orders per week stood at 375,100, compared to 345,700 in the previous year.
Ocado Group PLC (LON: OCDO) share price performance
Ocado’s shares were trading at GBX 1,450.00, sharply down by 7.05 per cent on 28 January at 13:34 PM BST. Ocado had a market cap of £11,723.84 million as of date.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 index was at 7,451.52, down by 1.36 per cent. (Ocado is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.)
Image source: EODHD/Others
