Adaptive Avenue's Web Slide Show Patent Suit Against Costco Moves From West Texas to Seattle, Where Deadlines Are Stayed Pending a Ruling in Another Adaptive Avenue Case.

The case is Adaptive Avenue Associates, Inc. v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, No. 2:26-cv-03821 (W.D. Wash.). It began in the Western District of Texas, Midland-Odessa Division, as No. 7:25-cv-00187, where the complaint was filed April 21, 2025. Judge David Counts referred the case to Magistrate Judge Derek T. Gilliland. Adaptive Avenue, a Minnesota corporation, alleges that Costco infringed two patents through its website.

Patents and the accused feature

The complaint asserts U.S. Patent 7,171,629, issued January 30, 2007, and U.S. Patent 7,428,707, issued September 23, 2008, both titled Customizable Web Site Access System and Method Therefore. It alleges that Adaptive Avenue owns both by assignment and that the '707 patent issued from a continuation-in-part of the application that became the '629 patent. It accuses the rotating carousel presentations on the costco.com home page, relying on archived captures of the costco.com home page from July 1, 2018, and alleges, on information and belief, that the feature worked the same way through the infringement period. The complaint asserts claim 11 of the '629 patent and claims 1 and 7 of the '707 patent.

Claim 11 of the '629 patent covers a method for customizing access to a plurality of web sites: remotely invoking a composer on a host server; creating a presentation by establishing a list of URLs, a display sequence, and a display duration; remotely invoking a performer on the server; and automatically displaying the presentation locally in a slide show format in which each URL is a slide. The complaint describes the '707 patent as covering auto-composing a web slide show presentation from details extracted from a desired web page.

The complaint pleads direct infringement and asks for damages, interest, and costs, with a jury.

What happened in West Texas

Adaptive Avenue filed a first amended complaint on August 7, 2025 (ECF No. 36), which is not available. Costco moved to dismiss it; a report and recommendation on that motion issued February 6, 2026 and was adopted February 23, 2026. Costco answered the amended complaint with affirmative defenses and counterclaims on March 12, 2026 (ECF No. 68), and Adaptive Avenue answered the counterclaims on April 2. The parties briefed claim construction from February to March 2026.

On May 13, 2026 Costco moved to stay the case pending ex parte reexaminations, attaching reexamination orders for the '629 patent and two for the '707 patent (ECF No. 79). On July 20, 2026 the court canceled the Markman hearing, and on July 21, 2026 Judge Gilliland granted Costco's October 2025 motion to transfer under 28 U.S.C. 1404(a) (ECF Nos. 47, 86).

In the Western District of Washington

The Washington docket shows the case received October 8, 2026 and reassigned to Judge John H. Chun on October 14. On October 26, 2026, on the parties' stipulated motion, Judge Chun stayed all case deadlines until a ruling on the pending motion for judgment on the pleadings in another Adaptive Avenue case in the same court, No. 2:26-cv-02791-JNW (ECF No. 101).

What to watch next

Watch for the ruling in No. 2:26-cv-02791-JNW that lifts the stay, a new scheduling order, and any ruling on Costco's motion to stay pending reexamination or any reexamination certificate for the '629 or '707 patent. The case can end at any time, including by settlement or voluntary dismissal.