Robotics developer Opex Corporation has won a favourable initial determination that Invata, LLC of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania and HC Robotics of Hangzhou City, China infringed two of its patents related to its Sure Sort and Perfect Pick systems and their associated iBOT vehicles.

After a full trial, the Chief Administrative Law Judge of the International Trade Commission concluded that Invata and HC Robotics’ second-generation Omnisort system infringes Opex’s US Patent Nos. 8,622,194 and 10,576,505.

The ruling also upheld the validity of Opex’s patents.

Based on his findings, the chief judge recommended that the International Trade Commission prohibit Invata and HC Robotics from importing, selling or offering support for their latest Omnisort system in the United States. This ruling comes on the heels of a Consent Order at the ITC, in which Invata and HC Robotics previously agreed to no longer import or sell their first-generation Omnisort systems in the United States.

Alex Stevens, Opex Corporation’s warehouse automation president, is pleased with the judge’s ruling and the validation of Opex’s innovations in the warehouse automation industry. “We remain committed to solving our customers’ most pressing needs in unique and clever ways, and then protecting the intellectual property that comes out of that innovation.”