Instacart is suing Uber Cornershop grocery delivery service

On Thursday, Instacart filed a lawsuit against Cornershop, a new grocery delivery competitor in the US, for allegedly stealing thousands of its copyrighted and licensed images, along with product descriptions and price data.

“Instacart today filed a lawsuit against Cornershop after the company failed to comply with a cease and gave up demanding that it stop stealing our catalog and using our misappropriated intellectual property,” Instacart said in a statement to CNN Business. “The lawsuit makes it clear that Cornershop is making a systematic effort to illegally steal Instacart’s proprietary catalog while trying to conceal that theft for its own commercial gain.”

In a statement, Uber framed the Instacart lawsuit as an attempt to quell new competition.

“Instacart faces a new challenge in the United States from a Chilean upstart, and it is unfortunate that its first move is litigation rather than competition,” Uber spokesman Noah Edwardsen said in a statement to CNN Business. “Cornershop will respond to this complaint but will not be deterred from bringing grocery delivery to more customers in the United States.”

Uber announced last year that it would acquire Cornershop, a Latin American grocery delivery startup. (The deal is still pending regulatory approval in Mexico.) Cornershop has launched operations in Texas and Florida. In a recent earnings call, Uber framed the acquisition as a component of its opportunity to expand into the grocery category, along with its Eats platform.

Uber, which started as a transportation service, has dabbled in other categories, including food deliveries. But arguably, those efforts have taken on a new urgency as the pandemic has simultaneously reduced demand for its core travel business, while driving dizzying demand for food deliveries.

Meanwhile, Instacart’s business has exploded during the pandemic. Investors recently invested $ 325 million in the service, bringing their valuation to nearly $ 14 billion.

The lawsuit, which includes side-by-side comparisons of some alleged stolen images, estimates that Instacart has spent at least $ 17 million since 2015 creating and maintaining its catalog.

“By stealing and misusing Instacart data, Cornershop has evaded the required substantial investments from legitimate competitors in this industry,” the lawsuit read, which was filed in federal district court in Texas.

In a blog post about the lawsuit, Instacart said: “While we accept competition and innovation, what Cornershop is doing is illegal.”