In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple accused the Texas-based firm of Fintiv of trying to “distract from their failed patent case” with a new set of allegations.
“The court has repeatedly rejected Fintiv’s claims and we believe this latest attempt to distract from their failed patent case should also be dismissed,” the tech giant told 9to5Mac. “We launched Apple Pay over a decade ago and have been innovating every day since to give users the best, most private and secure experience available. We’ll continue to defend against these false claims.”
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.
Apple has apparently had enough of Fintiv’s legal shenanigans — and rightfully so. As noted by 9to5Mac, Fintiv’s litigation campaign began in 2018 with a single patent and has repeatedly failed in court. Judge Alan Albright, who presided over the long-running case in Texas, has twice ruled that Apple doesn’t Fintiv’s patented technology.
Hopefully, the latest lawsuit will fail miserably as has the other two. Then perhaps Fintiv will give this a rest.
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