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12 October 2016Patents

TGI Fridays and Whole Foods targeted in patent suits

Restaurant TGI Fridays and supermarket chain Whole Foods Market have been caught in the crosshairs of a patent infringement claim.

In suits filed on Monday, October 10, at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, Texas-based Millennium Commerce claimed that TGI and Whole Foods had infringed US patent number 7,954,701.

The patent concerns a technical solution to solve a problem unique to point-of-sale (POS) terminals, according to Millennium.

It does this “by greatly enhancing and facilitating the operation of POS terminal systems through use of hardware and software”.

The technology claimed in the patent doesn’t “pre-empt all ways for setting up and managing a POS terminal”, argued Millennium, claiming that TGI and Whole Foods could “choose to set up and manage POS terminals without infringing” the patent.

According to the suit, the claims apply only to a “specific type of terminal comprising a combination of financial information reader, an input device, and a control system”.

Millennium alleged it had suffered harm as a result of the infringements, and is seeking “monetary damages in an amount adequate to compensate for defendant’s infringement”.

The Texas-based company is also seeking a jury trial, costs, expenses and any further relief the court deems just and equitable.

A spokesperson for TGI Fridays said: "As a matter of policy, we’re unable to comment on pending litigation at this time."

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