Dillard's, Inc.

Dillard's, Inc. is a publicly traded American department store chain founded by William T. Dillard in 1938. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, the company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DDS. As of early 2025, Dillard's operated approximately 271 stores across roughly 30 states, primarily in the southern and western United States. For the fiscal year ending January 2026, Dillard's reported revenues of approximately $6.56 billion and had around 28,800 employees. The Dillard family continues to control the company through its ownership of Class B common stock.

Dillard's operates as a fashion retailer, offering a wide selection of merchandise through its physical stores and e-commerce website. The company's main product categories include fashion apparel for women, men, and children; accessories; cosmetics; footwear; and home furnishings. Dillard's offers a mix of national brands and exclusive private-label brands, such as Antonio Melani, Gianni Bini, and Roundtree & Yorke. In addition to its retail operations, the company owns a general contracting construction firm, CDI Contractors, which handles the construction and remodeling of its stores.

The company's patent litigation history shows it as a defendant. With zero cases as a plaintiff and one as a defendant, Dillard's fits the profile of an operating company defending against patent assertions. The single tracked case, Aml Ip LLC v. Dillard's, Inc., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a common venue for patent litigation.

The plaintiff in its tracked case, Aml Ip LLC, is a non-practicing entity (NPE) that asserts patents related to e-commerce technology against various retailers. Aml Ip has filed similar lawsuits against other companies, often involving patents covering electronic transaction methods. The case against Dillard's, like others brought by Aml Ip, likely involves allegations that Dillard's' e-commerce platform infringes on the NPE's patents.