H-E-B sued over patent infringement

H-E-B is facing legal trouble after a Canadian technology startup claims the grocer is infringing on its patents related to the mobile checkout application that it debuted last year.

According to the San Antonio Business Journal, Toronto-based Digital Retail Apps Inc., founded in 2012, sells software and hardware used for self-checkout in retail stores under the brand SelfPay. It also had Silicon Valley offices at one time.

Digital Retail Apps claims that H-E-B representatives saw its sales presentation during a trade show in October 2014 and was courting the startup for a potential white-label deal but backed out, according to the Journal.

“We worked with H-E-B in good faith, but their interest in our product was dishonest,” Digital Retail Apps CEO Wendy MacKinnon said in a news release. “They took our ideas for themselves, violating our patents and their contractual obligations to us.”

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