(Recasts, adds Ocado comment)
OSLO/LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Norwegian warehouse robot
maker AutoStore <AUTO.OL and British rival Ocado
sparred on Friday over legal proceedings in Germany in their
latest patent dispute.
AutoStore shares rose as much as 15% after the company
issued a statement saying a Munich court had halted proceedings
brought by Ocado to prevent the sale of one of AutoStore's
robots in Germany.
Ocado hit back by saying the Norwegian company had given
only a partial account of the proceedings and that the case was
still to be concluded.
Shares of AutoStore, which last month suffered a legal
setback https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/ocado-wins-patent-infringement-trial-itc-against-autostore-2021-12-14
in the United States in a lawsuit of its own against Ocado,
pared gains to trade up just 0.6% at 0939 GMT.
The companies, both of which provide labour-saving storage
technology to the fast-growing online shopping industry, have
been locked in a series of legal battles https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-autostore-ocado-lawsuit-idUSKBN26M5VO
for years over intellectual property (IP) rights.
"The Munich District Court yesterday stayed proceedings
brought by Ocado for orders blocking the sale of AutoStore's B1
robot in Germany, noting that Ocado's utility model IP rights in
the action were likely to be invalid," AutoStore said.
"The court's view was that Ocado were trying to claim
technology they had not invented," it added.
But Ocado said the case would resume at a later time.
"The infringement action against AutoStore continues but
must await confirmation of the validity of Ocado's Utility Model
right, which will be considered by a different court as is
standard in Germany," Ocado said.
Ocado's shares traded down 5.5% in London.
Another patent case between the two rivals is still ongoing
in Britain.
AutoStore, whose biggest owner is Japan's SoftBank,
went public in October and its shares initially rose sharply.
They have since fallen, partly as a result of the U.S. legal
setback, and are down 47% from their November peak.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo and James Davey in London
Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)