Amazon, Walmart Sued over Patent for Light-Emitting Power Cord

Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. are facing lawsuits by a Swedish company alleging their sales of power cords that emit light as a visual indication of power consumption infringe a patent for the technology, which began as a research initiative at a Swedish nonprofit.

Counterflo AB, which filed a complaint against each company on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, said it sold its own product, the Power Aware Cord, in the U.S. in 2017 “but was driven out of the market by unlicensed competitors” including Walmart and Amazon.

The complaint against Walmart targets ...