Apple Pay wins lawsuit against Fintiv in Texas after 7 years.
Fintiv lost its seven-year lawsuit against Apple Pay in Texas because it could not prove the existence of the widget.
Quick summary:
Fintiv lost its seven-year lawsuit against Apple Pay in Texas because it could not prove the existence of a "widget."
Shortly afterward, Fintiv filed a new lawsuit in Georgia alleging theft of trade secrets.
The Texas ruling makes the lawsuit in Georgia less likely to succeed.
In a seven-year lawsuit in Texas, Fintiv repeatedly claimed that Apple Pay and Apple Wallet used a patented "widget." However, when asked to provide evidence, neither the company nor experts could identify what this "widget" actually was.
Judge Alan Albright ruled against all charges, stating that the card images and metadata provided by Fintiv were insufficient to constitute software or a "widget management component." With this argument, Fintiv's remaining claims completely collapsed.
Fintiv withdraws from Texas.
Facing the risk of a jury trial following an unfavorable verdict, Fintiv quickly withdrew the lawsuit from Texas – a state generally considered "friendly" to plaintiffs regarding intellectual property. The court ruling revealed that Fintiv's years-long effort was essentially centered around a non-existent "fictitious patent."
Turning to Georgia with new charges.
Less than a week after its defeat, Fintiv filed another lawsuit in Georgia, accusing Apple of stealing trade secrets and violating anti-corruption laws. However, with the Texas court having ruled that Apple Pay does not use the "widget" described by Fintiv, the likelihood of success for this new lawsuit is also being questioned.
Apple quickly dismissed the allegations in Georgia, calling them “baseless.” The company asserted that the Texas ruling, which has been published in detail, clearly demonstrates Fintiv’s repeated failure to prove its allegations. Apple stressed that the court has repeatedly rejected Fintiv’s claims, and they believe the Georgia lawsuit will also fail.
The Texas ruling revealed that Fintiv spent seven years pursuing a “utility” they couldn’t identify. Now, in Georgia, Fintiv hopes to convince the court that Apple stole trade secrets. However, newly released documents from Texas offer no advantage to Fintiv in this new legal battle.
