Safeway Settles With Excentus Over Patent Infringement

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Dallas-based fuel rewards vendor Excentus and Safeway here announced that they have entered into a settlement and licensing agreement settling all outstanding litigation between them.

Last June, Excentus filed suit against Safeway and its subsidiaries Blackhawk Network, Blackhawk Marketing and Randalls/Tom Thumb in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Texas Abilene Division, alleging willful and deliberate patent infringement and the misappropriation and theft of trade secrets.

In September, Safeway discontinued its PowerPump fuel rewards program that was the focus of the Excentus suit, though the retailer denied it acted because of the suit.

"We are pleased to put this litigation behind us," said Safeway spokesman Brian Dowling. "We respect the breadth of the Excentus intellectual property portfolio and look forward to exploring ways to work together on fuel rewards."

"We are glad to have been able to work with Safeway to execute an agreement that works for both of us and opens up the opportunity to work together on what is best for their customers going forward," said Dickson Perry, chief executive officer of Excentus. "Our plan is to work with others who want to reward their customers with fuel discounts to avoid disruptive and costly litigation for their companies as we protect the assets of Excentus."

Further terms of the agreement and settlement were not disclosed.

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