Home » Crime and Fraud » Walmart launches lawsuit against rival BJ’s for “copy” of its self-checkout tech

Walmart launches lawsuit against rival BJ’s for “copy” of its self-checkout tech

By Nithya Bose in Crime and Fraud, posted March 25, 2022

Walmart and Sam’s Club have launched a lawsuit against competitor store BJ’s Wholesale Club over their technology used in the Sam’s Club mobile app.

The company spent years creating the feature and also claims to have many patents safeguarding the intellectual property for the self-checkout option launched in 2016.

Scan & Go allows Sam's Club customers to make orders through their mobile phones while inside the store, avoiding the checkout queue.

Walmart states its “innovations were simply taken without permission” by BJ’s, which debuted its similar service called ExpressPay, in late 2021.

The lawsuit says: “Express Pay is an apparent copy of Sam’s Club’s Scan & Go, merely changing the in-app colors and changing the name from Scan & Go to Express Pay.”

The suit also claims BJ’s infringement on Walmart’s patent rights has incurred “significant damages and irreparable harm.”

Scan & Go has grown in popularity since the coronavirus hit the United States in early 2020, as customers have adopted social distancing and contactless checkout.

The case was filed in the United States District Court in Orlando, Florida. Both Walmart and BJ's refused to comment on the claim.

Source: CNBC

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