Alpha Modus’ Patent Offensive: Why a Retail Tech Startup Is Suing the Industry
November 19, 2025 by guest author, Antonia Hamberger
Alpha Modus isn’t a household name in digital signage or retail tech circles, but the North Carolina–based firm has become harder to ignore in recent weeks. After years operating quietly in the background, Alpha Modus has now filed 19 patent infringement lawsuits – and CEO Bill Alessi says that number is on track to hit triple digits in the coming months.
When we sat down with him for an interview, Alessi explained why the company has shifted from a retail-tech operator to a patent-assertion business, and why he insists Alpha Modus is not a patent troll but a legitimate innovator trying to protect what it invented.
Alpha Modus began in 2014 as a software- and data-as-a-service provider, with Bill Alessi citing deployments with retailers of the likes of Walgreens. But competing for large enterprise rollouts proved difficult for a young startup facing “companies with very deep pockets,” says Alessi.
Everything changed in 2018, when the company was granted its first patents focusing on enhancing consumer experiences inside retail environments. “We couldn’t fund protecting IP and continuing our commercialization, so we needed to pause on the commercializations.” Instead, Alpha Modus fortified its IP portfolio, expanding to 11 patents – and more in the pipeline.
What exactly are these patents?
Here’s the short version: Alpha Modus claims ownership over methods of capturing and using consumer and product interaction data inside retail settings. The patents cover the methods and systems behind a broad range of modern retail technologies. For example: data in a store is captured – whether it’s facial expressions or eye movements through a camera, or foot-traffic patterns through heat maps.
That kind of data is now collected at massive scale, and Alpha Modus asserts patents over various methods and systems retailers use to turn it into targeted content or enhanced customer experiences. This includes smart shelving, in-aisle robotics, “just-walk-out” or touchless checkout systems, and loss-prevention tools that rely on similar data analytics.
In other words: the backbone of much of today’s data-driven retail media and frictionless shopping systems.
Alessi argues that Alpha Modus simply patented these methods earlier than anyone else – many as far back as 2013.
Why Alpha Modus is suing almost everyone
The company’s most public cases have involved Walgreens and Kroger over the use of Cooler Screens technology, as well as – more recently – Cooler Screens itself. But the scope is much wider. There is also an active lawsuit against the fashion retailer Zara USA over the use a Alpha Modus’ “Method and System for Customer Assistance in a Retail Store”.
And the strategy isn’t haphazard. Alessi describes a multi-year blueprint targeting retailers, integrators, analytics vendors, and large tech providers—essentially anyone deploying consumer-data-driven retail tech without a license.
He also says the lawsuits aren’t a “troll play,” but the only legally safe way to initiate discussions. “I can’t knock on the door friendly. Unfortunately, I have to punch them in the face and say, I’m sorry but you’re infringing our rights.” Alessi says reaching out politely puts Alpha Modus at risk of countersuits and injunctions, forcing the company to litigate first.
Aiming for partnerships, not just payouts
Alpha Modus insists its goal isn’t just settlements or damages – it wants ecosystem partners. Two companies sued by Alpha Modus have already settled and then joined the Alpha Modus “ecosystem,” becoming products the company actively resells. One of them is Philadelphia-based retail analytics company VSBLTY.
Can Alpha Modus really win? Alessi says yes
Despite the scale of what looks like an uphill battle, the CEO projects unwavering confidence: “We have them dead to rights. If we go to a verdict, we will be ruled in favor.” He also claims the company is financially prepared for a long legal campaign.
Alpha Modus has positioned itself as a kind of IP moat holder—an early mover that patented methods before today’s AI-powered retail transformation took off. Whether the company is viewed as an innovator protecting legitimate groundwork or an aggressor asserting broad claims depends on where you sit in the ecosystem.
What’s clear is that Alpha Modus is expanding its commercial footprint and signing new technology partners, even as its litigation-heavy approach raises eyebrows. The longer-term question is whether the company will influence the retail-tech market through more than licensing agreements – whether it will ultimately bring forward new, scalable innovations of its own as the industry.
Op-Ed by Florian Rotberg: When Patents Become Weapons in Digital Signage
The intellectual property (IP) business has never been for the faint of heart. It’s a high-stakes game where rights holders wield patents like swords, and the battlefield is often the courtroom. Alpha Modus CEO Bill Alessi exemplifies this reality. In our recent invidis interview, Alessi came across as confident – backed by deep pockets and a formidable legal team – ready to take on more than 100 digital signage providers and retailers in the coming weeks.
This is not about technology patents that protect groundbreaking inventions. It’s about process patents (List of Alpha Modus patents), which cover methods rather than hardware or software. For integrators, software vendors, and retailers, these can feel like invisible tripwires. One wrong step, and you’re facing injunctions and / or hefty licensing fees. In effect, process patents can act as a ban on doing business unless you pay to play.
The Cost of Doing Business
In the U.S., no provider seems safe from Alpha Modus’ claims. Outside the U.S., the legal terrain is different, but the uncertainty remains. Whether you fight or settle, the costs will be significant—lawyers, court fees, and potential licensing agreements. For many, this is not just a legal challenge; it’s a strategic threat.
Seems a little like patenting breathing as a method of converting O2 into CO2
Suing your way to partnerships. Interesting