Member Info for Valueplay

We have heard a complete update on all court cases via press releases by Ocado. On this board we have all of the press releases re the latest on the US, German and UK court cases from Ocados perspective.

I am surprised also Wiscos. I guess the jump yesterday may have been overdone. It did jump up a lot for little news.

Kantar supermarket figures were released this morning. Ocado retail was one of the few supermarkets who grew sales but possibly analysts were expecting the sales to grow more than they did.

Looks like the share price is bouncing up a bit now...

Morning chilting,

Agreed re the court cases. I doubt management will give away any contract details but for the analysts with intricate predicted CFC revenue forecasts they should be able to tell how much percentage Ocado is pulling in from its overseas CFCs. Of course costs will be escalating but CFC builds seem to have been carried out on time. Operationally overseas CFCs seem to be running well without any major issues.

Ocado retail capacity is ramping, revenue will be rising but so will costs. Price rises should cover these increases. Now the new tech is a here Ocado retail will most probably outline plans for a more aggressive immediacy mini CFC roll out.

Discern,

Good to hear Ocado are offering you innovative solutions to grow your business. The SP has fallen a lot. It is still however 30%+ higher than it was at the start of the pandemic. I think, after Ocados recent new tech unveil, that the share price is now on firmer foundations and should grow further.

The war of words will continue and intensify between Ocado and Autostore. I expect Ocado to defend successfully the claims against them and Autostore to also successfully defend the claims against them. The end outcome being the validation of the ownership of Ocados and Autostores current technology.

Autostore started this litigation process in 2020. At the time Autostore had a hedge fund owner. The legal cases v Ocado have served their purpose well I believe. The cases highlighted Autostores technology and gave another reason to invest in the company (should the case v Ocado have won it would have been v lucrative). After the lawsuit was launched SoftBank acquired 40% of Autostore for a high sum. SoftBank brought with them a wealth of contacts and potential clients for Autostore.

The SoftBank investment helped Autostore successfully float Autostore in their IPO last year. The legal cases against Ocado were an attractant to investors in the IPO. The IPO floated at a high price. The hedge fund offloaded more of Autostore at a high price.

Now the reality is setting in that Autostore is making no progress v Ocado in the cases against them. Autostore share price is now well below it's IPO level.

I believe that Autostores legal cases v Ocado were mostly motivated by the desire to attract new investors to Autostore. Ocado's retaliation cases were launched on the slight chance they would succeed but primarily they were to be used as a bargaining chip to be withdrawn if Autostore were to pull the legal cases v Ocado.

The current Ocado share price is rising as tech share market conditions improve and also as the delayed reaction to Ocados game changing tech launch filters through.

Ocado have reimagined the path to profitability of Ocado Solutions. The new robots are cheaper and easier to produce/service. New grid cheaper and quicker to install. Existing buildings can be turned into a CFC. All of this adds up to far cheaper CFC build out costs. Quicker CFC builds. Ocado are thought to receive 4-5% of the value of all goods passing through one of their powered CFCs. By ramping up the CFCs quicker and with less cost then profitability occurs far quicker than in the current robot/CFC setup.Hi

Second German Court stays Ocado case against AutoStore because Ocado IP right may be invalid
31 JAN 2022 12:00 CET

COMPANY NAME
AUTOSTORE HOLDINGS LTD.

ISN
BMG0670A1099

MARKET
Oslo Børs

SYMBOL
AUTO

(Nedre Vats, 31 January 2022) Following the Munich District Court's order on
Thursday last week staying Ocado's infringement claims against AutoStore in that
court, the Mannheim District Court has now also stayed a similar claim brought
by Ocado for an order blocking the sale of AutoStore's B1 robot in Germany.

The Reporting Judge told both parties that, after his initial review of the
briefs, he considered the utility model IP right as asserted by Ocado invalid.

Ocado therefore agreed that the Mannheim District Court should stay the claim
pending a decision in AutoStore's ongoing challenge to the validity of Ocado's
utility model in the German Patent Office. The Court then ordered the stay.

Ocado brought the actions in the Munich and Mannheim District Courts in Germany
based on its two utility models as a tactical response to the legal cases
AutoStore launched against it for patent infringement in 2020.

AutoStore has consistently maintained that the utility models forming the basis
of Ocado's actions in Germany are invalid, and we commenced proceedings last
year in the German Patent Office to invalidate them.

AutoStore continues to invest in industry-leading technology innovations to help
our customers automate their warehouse operations and drive efficiency.

Earlier this month, AutoStore released the new AutoStore R5+ robot technology
that solves customers' needs more efficiently and is being rolled out across our
worldwide customer base, including in Germany. The newest addition to the
AutoStore Robot fleet will enable warehouses to manage larger items, thanks to
the R5+'s ability to handle Bins up

Register via the below link for the results broadcast. There will be a discussion between Tim Steiner and Stephen Daintith (Ocado CFO) regarding Ocados latest technology..

https://webcasting.brrmedia.co.uk/broadcast/61dc0592e3976b4d1b2d2a88?s=09

Ocado's response to the German court case news is below:

Ocado, however, countered the claim saying that by saying the Norwegian company had given a partial and misleading account of the proceedings. It described the Munich court’s action as merely "procedural".

"The infringement action against AutoStore continues but must await confirmation of the validity of Ocado’s Utility Model right, which will be considered by a different court as is standard in Germany," it said.

Extensive read on the history between Ocado and Autostore.

https://www.ft.com/content/7f12906e-fc6a-403b-aa41-aca03724b76f

Ocado shares finished at the equivalent of £14.76 in the US at close.

Agreed chilting,

Today looks like a mixture of profit taking and atrocious
market conditions causing the fall. Autostore shares were 16% up at the open, they are now 3% down..

For me today's news has been overblown by the market.

Ocado have tried to stop Autostore using their latest robot in Germany due to questioning its patents. Their move has failed. This case would have been the icing on the cake. The ITC case was the big one, the cake itself. Ocado have won so far comprehensively in that case. Fully validating the ownership of their technology..

This German case was brought about by Ocado as a response and retaliation after Autostore started the case against Ocado at the ITC in the US.

I think it was brought about on the possible, not probable chance they would win. The case could have been used as a bargaining chip if Autostore could be persuaded to end their ITC litigation.

Had Ocado won the German case there could have been significant damages gained by Ocado and great patent damage to Autostore. Ocado would have wounded a key rival.

It isn't a surprising legal case development. Overall market has turned negative contributing to Ocados drop today. Autostore shares were up 16% at the open, now up just 2%..

Today's fall in Ocado share price looks to be linked to the below RNS released by Autostore. Not a major issue for Ocado, big relief for Autostore though as this case, if lost, could have been very harmful.

Nedre Vats, 28 January 2022) The Munich District Court yesterday stayed
proceedings brought by Ocado for orders blocking the sale of AutoStore's B1
robot in Germany, noting that Ocado's utility model IP rights in the action were
likely to be invalid.
The Court considered that, despite Ocado having made significant last-minute
amendments to the claims of its utility models, the utility models were likely
invalid because the claims were seeking to cover more than had been disclosed in
the application for the utility models as originally filed. The Court's view was
that Ocado were trying to claim technology they had not invented.
Ocado brought the actions in Germany as a tactical response to the legal cases
AutoStore launched against it for patent infringement in 2020.
AutoStore has consistently maintained that the utility models forming the basis
of Ocado's actions in Germany are invalid, and we commenced proceedings last
year in the German Patent Office to invalidate them.
AutoStore continues to invest in industry-leading technology innovations to help
our customers automate their warehouse operations and drive efficiency.

Earlier this month, AutoStore released the new AutoStore R5+ robot technology
that solves customers' needs more efficiently and is being rolled out across our
worldwide customer base, including in Germany. The newest addition to the
AutoStore Robot fleet will enable warehouses to manage larger items, thanks to
the R5+'s ability to handle Bins up to 425 mm, the tallest Bins available in the
AutoStore system.
All other AutoStore actions continue as before, including the infringement
action launched in October 2020 in the UK and currently before the High Court.
None of these legal developments affects the operations or success of our
growing global business. As the pioneer of cube storage automation, we have
secured hundreds of patents since our founding.
As demonstrated by the launch of the R5+ robot, AutoStore continues to develop
the next generation of robots and solutions to remain the technology leader in
this space. AutoStore now has more than 770 systems in 40 countries, is
represented in a variety of industries, and continues to grow its business
worldwide.
See here for further details of AutoStore's launch of the R5+ robot:
https://www.autostoresystem.com/news/autostore-unveils-r5-robot-expanding-its
-bin-handling-capabilities-to-meet-the-needs-of-rapidly-evolving-warehouses

Well said chilting.

Whenever a market trend looks unstoppable that's when commonly the trend gets overdone as investors pile into the strategy. Market crashes are very rare. More commonly there are strong waves of sentiment and stock rotation. If you choose a quality company share it will have the ability to pull through over the long term. When you have fully researched and are totally comfortable with your investment you have more ability to ride waves..

The tech sell off is reversing. Apple have just smashed their numbers to the upside.. Should be a good day tomorrow..

Indeed, nice to follow the intra day moves though...

Something for holders to look out for is the US ADR listing of Ocado shares. If you divide the price shown on the link below by 2 then divide by the GBP/USD exchange rate you then get the current indicated value of Ocado shares. It's showing a £15.96 UK open value at the moment tomorrow..

https://www.google.com/search?q=ocddy+stock&client=ms-android-google&sxsrf=AOaemvKNxi17zNWCLr_uLjtNyi0hOnMvtg%3A1643303144721&ei=6NDyYfqlK5KA8gKekIOwAQ&oq=ocddy+stock&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAMyBwgjELADECcyBwgAEEcQsAMyBwgAEEcQsAMyBwgAEEcQsAMyBwgAEEcQsAMyBwgAEEcQsAMyBwgAEEcQsAMyBwgAEEcQsAMyBwgAEEcQsAMyBwgAELADEEMyBwgAELADEEMyBwgAELADEENKBAhBGABQAFgAYMAGaAFwAngAgAEAiAEAkgEAmAEAyAEMwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

A few sources have been consistently been very dismissive of Ocados chances over the years. Another standout has been Bloomberg. Totally underestimated the potential in Ocado for so long. Opinion pieces just saying Ocado was overrhyped etc

I remember those days well Neverselling. This chat board was choccablock full of deriding statements re Ocado. Ocado was the most heavily shorted stock on the LSE. Very tough times. If you were savvy enough you could see then that Ocado were, and still are, a razor sharp disrupter who are absolutely intent on delivering the customer a best in class experience.