OPEX Corporation has announced it has filed complaints for patent infringement in the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against HC Robotics (aka Huicang Information Technology Co., Ltd.) of Hangzhou City, China (“HC Robotics”) and Invata, LLC (d/b/a Invata Intralogistics) of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania (“Invata”) based on their making, using, offering for sale, selling and/or importing infringing automated put walls and automated storage and retrieval systems, associated vehicles, associated control software, and their component parts.
This is the second set of patent infringement lawsuits brought by OPEX against these parties.
HC Robotics and Invata have already agreed to stop selling a first-generation automated sortation system (“Omnisort”) in the U.S., based on OPEX’s initial lawsuits. Those same infringement proceedings are ongoing with respect to the second generation of HC Robotics’ sortation system.
OPEX’s second set of lawsuits against HC Robotics and Invata are directed at the infringing importation and sale of the second generation system, and are based on more recently issued OPEX patents.
OPEX offers dynamic eCommerce fulfillment solutions that utilize scalable warehouse robots to provide speed and accuracy, and streamline the supply chain from inventory storage and picking to sorting and shipping. In addition, OPEX provides micro-fulfillment technology that optimizes space and helps execute flawless last-mile delivery, and offers reverse logistics solutions that improve returns, exchange operations and revenue with maximum speed and reduced labor.
In the ITC complaint, OPEX asserts that HC Robotics and Invata infringe two OPEX patents that are directed to OPEX’s Sure Sort® and Perfect Pick® products and their associated iBOT® vehicles.
Commenting on the actions, James Liebler, OPEX Corporation Vice President of Corporate and Legal Affairs said, “OPEX has been and remains committed to bringing innovative warehouse automation systems to the market. We respect others’ intellectual property and expect others to respect ours as well. We will vigorously defend our intellectual property and bring actions when necessary to address infringing conduct.”
