Excentus Corporation and Safeway Inc. have entered into a settlement and licensing agreement settling all outstanding litigation between them.
“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.”
Excentus sued Safeway in June, alleging the grocery chain wrongly used the privately held company’s patents and other intellectual property to develop Safeway’s PowerPump gasoline rewards program, Reuters reported. When it filed the suit, Excentus accused Safeway of wrongfully using trade secrets and confidential information belonging to Excentus to develop PowerPump Rewards.
Safeway’s PowerPump Rewards program gave customers discounts on gasoline at certain gas stations after they reached a specific level of spending on groceries or gift cards. Excentus’ fuel rewards, called fuelperks, offers fuel discounts based on spending.
“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, CEO 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.