Instacart Sues Uber-Owned Cornershop

grocery

Instacart has filed a lawsuit against grocery delivery company Cornershop, which was recently acquired by Uber, alleging the company used images from Instacart’s product catalog when it opened in the U.S., Axios reported.

Cornershop, a Latin American delivery service, was bought by Uber last year, and debuted in the U.S. this year starting in Dallas and Miami.

Instacart initially put forth a cease and desist order asking the other company “to stop stealing our catalog and using our misappropriated intellectual property,” according to Axios, but when Cornershop allegedly did not comply, the lawsuit came about.

“The lawsuit makes clear that Cornershop is engaging in a systematic effort to illegally steal Instacart’s proprietary catalog while attempting to conceal that theft for its own commercial benefit,” a spokesperson for Instacart said, according to Axios.

Uber’s position is that no wrongdoing has taken place.

“Instacart is facing a new challenge in the US from a Chilean upstart, and it’s unfortunate that their first move is litigation instead of competition,” a spokesperson said, according to Axios. “Cornershop will be responding to this complaint but won’t be deterred in bringing grocery delivery to more customers in the US.”

It’s not the first allegation against Cornershop. The company also faced criticism when some grocery chains in the U.S. reportedly found it was offering grocery delivery services in their stores without their consent.

The grocery delivery business has been booming during the pandemic as consumers have switched to mobile delivery to avoid public spaces and the coronavirus. In addition to Cornershop, Uber also recently agreed to purchase grocery delivery giant Postmates, in a $2.7 billion deal that will put the companies on track for a competition with others to be the biggest in the delivery world, PYMNTS reported.

Other competitors for that title include Just Eat Takeaway, which made a $7.3 billion bid to buy Grubhub. And Amazon is gearing up to buy Deliveroo in a deal that, while still being scrutinized by authorities, is likely to pass.