(Reuters) – Norwegian robotics company AutoStore will pay 200 million pounds ($257.1 million) to British online supermarket group Ocado as part of a deal between warehouse technology pioneers to settle all pending patent claims, they said on Saturday.
Both AutoStore and Ocado license their technology to retailers around the world, and the companies have engaged in numerous legal battles in different countries to defend their intellectual property.
Under the agreement announced in a statement on Saturday, all patent litigation claims will be withdrawn globally and the two companies will be able to continue to use and market all of their own existing products without dispute.
AutoStore will pay the £200 million to Ocado in installments over a two-year period, the statement said. He did not give a reason for the agreed payment.
The agreement does not allow for collaboration, technology support between the companies or access to actual products, the statement said.
However, it grants both companies access to parts of each other’s patent portfolios so that they can use or manufacture their own products.
($1 = 0.7779 pounds)
(Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Jason Neely and Helen Popper)