Another day, another lawsuit. Fintiv, Inc. — which specializes in patented, digital wallet ecosystems — has filed a civil lawsuit against Apple, Inc. in the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
The lawsuit alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Georgia’s RICO Act, The Defend Trade Secrets Act, and Georgia’s Trade Secret Act. The lawsuit, filed by Kasowitz LLP, alleges that Apple “engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity, including wire fraud and trade secret misappropriation, in furtherance of a scheme to steal Fintiv’s proprietary mobile wallet technology and trade secrets that Apple used to create Apple Pay, a service that generates billions in annual revenue and has been a major force in growing Apple’s market valuation to more than $3 trillion.”
The complaint claims Apple approached CorFire (Fintiv’s predecessor) more than a decade ago under the pretense of forming a mobile payment business partnership. Between 2011 and 2012, it’s alleged, Apple attended multiple meetings with CorFire representatives and received confidential technical information under non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
The purpose of those meetings was to enter into an agreement in which Apple would license CorFire’s mobile wallet technology, for which CorFire would receive licensing fees, according to the complaint. Instead, it’ alleged, Apple stole Fintiv’s confidential information and later hired away key CorFire employees, before launching Apple Pay in 2014. Fintiv asserts in the court filing that Apple Pay’s core features including secure element technology, NFC technology, and trusted service management platform were based on CorFire’s innovations.
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