Online grocer and robotics company Ocado reportedly had police enforce a patent infringement injunction at the booth of warehouse robotics startup Brightpick at the LogiMAT trade show in Germany.

According to a LinkedIn post from Brightpick CEO Jan Zizka, Brightpick received a warning letter from Ocado the day before LogiMAT, alleging that Brightpick's new "Gridpicker" technology infringed on one of Ocado's own existing patents. The letter was said to have given Brightpick 13 hours to respond and, hours later, Ocado was granted an preliminary junction against the product in Germany.

"Despite [us] immediately complying with it and suspending the presentation of Gridpicker at LogiMAT, Ocado representatives chose to bring police officers to our booth to enforce the order," Zizka said, labeling Ocado's allegations as "spurious," and vowing to challenge the claims moving forward.

In protest, Brightpick draped its booth at LogiMAT in white sheets that read, "So good, they don't want you to see it," and "why so afraid?" in red lettering.

Although Ocado is primarily known as one of the largest online-only grocery retailers in the world, the company also licenses its proprietary robotic warehouse technology to other retailers. It's unclear which specific patent the company is accusing Brightpick of violating. 

Brightpick advertises its Gridpicker technology as the "highest throughput robotic fulfillment system ever developed," and has been taking orders for it for months, with first installations scheduled for later this year. For now, Ocado's injunction is limited in scope, and applies only in Germany.

We have reached out to Ocado for a statement, and will publish its response when it becomes available.