Apple Pay wins lawsuit against Fintiv in Texas after 7 years

In a seven-year-old lawsuit in Texas, Fintiv repeatedly claimed that Apple Pay and Apple Wallet used a “widget” that it had patented. However, when asked to provide evidence, neither the company nor the experts could identify what the “widget” actually was.

Judge Alan Albright ruled in favor of the entire case, saying that the card images and metadata Fintiv presented did not constitute software or a “widget management component.” With this argument, Fintiv’s remaining claims collapsed completely.

Fintiv pulls out of Texas

Fintiv quickly withdrew its lawsuit from Texas, which is considered “friendly” to intellectual property plaintiffs, in the face of a jury verdict that threatened to result in a jury trial. The court’s ruling found that Fintiv’s years-long effort was actually centered around a “phantom patent” that did not exist.

Turning to Georgia with new charges

Less than a week after the defeat, Fintiv filed a new lawsuit in Georgia, accusing Apple of stealing trade secrets and violating anti-corruption laws. However, with a Texas court ruling that Apple Pay did not use the “widget” that Fintiv described, the new lawsuit’s chances of success are also in doubt.

Apple quickly dismissed the Georgia claims as “baseless.” The company argued that the Texas ruling, which was released in detail, was a clear demonstration of Fintiv’s repeated failure to prove its case. Apple noted that courts have repeatedly rejected Fintiv’s claims, and it believes the Georgia case will also fail.

The Texas ruling found that Fintiv spent seven years pursuing a “utility” it couldn’t identify. Now, in Georgia, Fintiv hopes to convince a court that Apple stole trade secrets. But the newly released documents from Texas don’t give Fintiv any advantage in its new legal battle.