November 6, 2013 - Home Depot Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and Toys 'R' Us Inc. won their patent lawsuits with Alexsam Inc. by default. When a judge denied Alexsam's request to delay the October 22 trial so Alexsam could find new lawyers, Alexsam dropped its suit against the three retailers.
Alexsam sued the companies in 2010 for infringement of patents on branded gift cards. The defendants were unsuccessful in their attempts to invalidate the patents, but Gap Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc. won verdicts that they didn't use the patented technology and thus didn't infringe.
Alexsam has been seeking a combined $250 million in patent royalties from Home Depot, J.C. Penney and Toys 'R' Us, as well as $34.5 million from Gap and $72 million from Barnes & Noble. The judge's order did not include an explanation of why Alexsam needed to find a new legal team.