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ITC confirms all AutoStore cavity bot patents are invalid

11 March 2022

On 10th March, the International Trade Commission, consisting of 5 experienced patent judges, decided in favour of Ocado Group on all points. Every patent AutoStore asserted in its ITC complaint was found either invalid or not infringed by Ocado Group's proprietary state of the art technology.

All of the 33 claims that originally constituted AutoStore's complaint to the ITC have now been rejected for a second time, or abandoned by AutoStore. AutoStore's key cavity bot patents, the UK versions of which are the only patents being asserted against Ocado Group in the High Court case starting next week, were all found to be invalid. A fourth, unrelated, patent was held not to be infringed.

Unusually, the ITC accepted review of the judge's original decision and in the same notice gave its decision on the merits, which further emphasises the strength of these findings.

Ocado Group continues actively to pursue its claims against AutoStore for infringement of Ocado Group's IP rights in both the United States and Europe, including its antitrust "Walker Process" claim against AutoStore in East Virginia and its infringement of five Ocado Group patents in New Hampshire. Ocado Group anticipates court determinations injuncting AutoStore and awarding Ocado Group damages for AutoStore's infringement of Ocado Group's patents.

An Ocado Group spokesperson said:

"We welcome the ITC's decision, which comprehensively confirms the judge's original findings last December. All 33 of the patent claims asserted against Ocado Group have now been confirmed for a second time to be either invalid or not infringed, demonstrating again how misguided AutoStore's complaint has been. The ITC investigation is now at its end.

We expect further vindication in the High Court in London in the weeks ahead, where AutoStore has already abandoned half of the patents in the case."

Contacts

David Shriver, Director of Communications, Ocado Group plc, on 01707 228 000
Martin Robinson at Tulchan Communications on 020 7353 4200

Person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement:

Neill Abrams

Group General Counsel & Company Secretary

Ocado Group plc

Buildings One & Two

Trident Place

Mosquito Way

Hatfield

Hertfordshire AL10 9UL

Fax: +44 (0)1707 227 997

email: company.secretary@ocado.com

Last updated 11th March 2022

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ITC investigation over: conclusive victory for Ocado Group