Alpha Modus sues H&M for patent infringement

US company Alpha Modus, specialising in the development of technologies for the retail industry, continues its fierce battle for the protection of its industrial and intellectual property. On this occasion, it has filed a lawsuit against Swedish fashion multinational H&M Group. It comes to light following the lawsuit filed against Spanish multinational Inditex and its main fashion chain, Zara, in mid-November.

The lawsuit dated December 1, 2025, and accessed by FashionUnited, was filed by Alpha Modus against H&M's US subsidiary, H&M Fashion USA, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. In it, the US technology company accuses the Swedish group of infringing the industrial and intellectual property protected by a total of five registered patents. Specifically, those identified within its intellectual property rights registration portfolio with numbers 11,042,890, for a retail store customer assistance method and system; 11,049,120, for a method and system for generating models for product placement in store; 11,301,880, for a method and system for retail store inventory management; 12,026,731, regarding a method for marketing and disseminating personalised advertising of retail products; and 12,354,121, regarding methods and systems for making purchases in a retail store. The US technology company also accuses Inditex and Zara of infringing these same four patents, plus the one identified with code 11,042,890. It alleges they implemented its patented technologies without consent as essential elements for their commercial activity, both through physical and digital channels.

Like Inditex and Zara, “H&M is a major global retailer” regarding which “we believe they have been using essential components of our patented in-store AI technology without authorisation”, said Bill Alessi, founder and CEO of Alpha Modus, in a statement to FashionUnited. “We have spent over a decade designing and deploying these systems in retail environments. Protecting that investment is essential to ensuring a fair ecosystem is maintained for all” players in the sector, he argued. In this commitment, “our stance is simple” regarding infringements such as those they claim to have detected in the commercial ecosystems of Inditex, Zara and H&M. It involves demanding that “if a company builds or deploys systems based on our patented technology, it must obtain a licence”. “We are actively commercialising and integrating these technologies with partners across the retail sector. Therefore, we cannot ignore their unauthorised use, especially when it involves a brand as large as H&M.”

Claims for compensation and cessation of technology implementation in H&M stores and platforms

According to the lawsuit, Alpha Modus accuses H&M of implementing its patented technologies without authorisation in a wide list of solutions and tools. These are both internal and made available to its customers. These solutions have also become an integral and essential part of the commercial activity carried out by the Swedish fashion chain, both through its stores and its online commerce platforms.

More concisely, among the elements of the H&M business model for which Alpha Modus argues the Swedish fashion group is relying on its patented technologies, the RFID garment and inventory management system used by the chain is highlighted first. This is used to analyse inventory as well as for other analyses related to its sale and management. The company adds the alleged infringement of its intellectual property through the H&M mobile app; through the digital video surveillance systems in its stores, used to analyse customer and employee activity; all software, systems and technologies for inventory management and replenishment; and H&M's “smart mirrors” with digital capabilities, which offer a series of different personalised experiences in some of the chain's main stores. Alpha Modus points directly to these elements in its lawsuit. However, it does not close the door to identifying more than those already noted.

As compensation for this accumulation of industrial and intellectual property infringements, which Alpha Modus maintains have caused harm to the company through lost business opportunities, revenue and a decrease in the value of its patented technology—similar to the open case against Inditex—the US company requests the Court to issue a judgment against H&M for patent infringement. It also seeks an order permanently prohibiting the Swedish company from continuing to carry out actions that violate Alpha Modus' intellectual property. Claims also include compensation for damages. This should in no case be less than the amount in royalties H&M should have paid to implement Alpha Modus technology. Furthermore, it seeks a judgment for wilful, reckless, deliberate and flagrant infringement against the Swedish firm. This aggravation requests that the economic damages claimed be multiplied by three, as permitted by US Patent Law.

“At the core of the Alpha Modus technology portfolio, including the asserted patents, is the ability to analyse consumer behaviour and interaction with products in real time”; an “advanced capability” of analysis that “allows companies to dynamically adjust their marketing strategies to meet immediate consumer needs at key moments of the purchasing decision”, the US technology company tried to explain to the Court. The vanguard nature of its technologies is precisely what would have allowed H&M, in this case, to access “competitive advantages in the retail market” through the “use of Alpha Modus patented technology” without authorisation, they note in their lawsuit.

“Our patent portfolio was not created to sit on a shelf, but is the backbone of the in-store artificial intelligence systems we deploy every day,” emphasises Alessi. Therefore, the implementation of Alpha Modus technologies is real and market-based. Consequently, the power to “enforce those patents” is part “of a broader strategy to standardise real-time retail intelligence and ensure that companies contributing to that ecosystem do so under fair commercial conditions”.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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