During 2006 and 2007, Safeway, through its Blackhawk subsidiaries, attempted to acquire Excentus as well [image-nocss] as the patents owned by AutoGas Systems Inc. (which are now owned by Excentus). The suit alleges that after Blackhawk failed to complete a transaction with either party, Safeway wrongfully used the patents, trade secrets and confidential information belonging to Excentus to develop its fuel rewards program called PowerPump Rewards. Excentus' complaint also asserts that Safeway's PowerPump Rewards program is a willful and deliberate infringement of four patents owned by Excentus.
"We believe our patent-protected fuelperks! rewards program is the most powerful customer loyalty program ever offered in the United States," said Dickson Perry, president and CEO of Excentus. "We have made significant investments over the last 10 years to develop our world-class technology, services and expertise and acquire the related trademarks and patents, all of which are valuable components of the fuelperks! program and assets of our company. When faced with situations like this one with Safeway, we are prepared to take the necessary steps to assure our assets and interests are protected."
Randy Nicholson, Excentus board member and a named inventor on the patents, added, "I am extremely excited about the opportunities our fuelperks! program holds for Excentus. I strongly believe that these actions are appropriate to recognize and protect our rights and interests created through the significant amount of time, hard work and monies invested in them over the last 10 to 15 years."
Click here to view a copy of the complaint filed against Safeway and its subsidiaries.
Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway is one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,739 supermarkets in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $44.1 billion in 2008. It has 324 Safeway retail fuel stations.
Irving, Texas-based Excentus is the provider of the fuelperks! rewards program and said it is the leader in developing the first successful, nationwide retail marketing coalition in United States using fuel as the ultimate consumer reward. Excentus holds seven U.S. patents and one Israeli patent, and it has eight pending patent applications, all regarding the issuance and redemption of various types and forms of fuel discounts as rewards for different consumer behaviors, along with the networking of retailers or other organizations and the clearing, reporting and settlement of the funding of fuel discounts amongst various parties.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.