DataTreasury Corporation, a small check-processing company, announced today that it has settled a patent-infringement lawsuit brought against NCR Corporation ("NCR"), a leading global technology company.
This lawsuit was one of several high-profile suits DataTreasury filed in federal court against a number of banks and payment-processing companies, and the NCR agreement follows settlements with JPMorgan Chase, Bank One, Groupe Ingenico, NetDeposit, Inc., and RDM Corporation, companies that now license DataTreasury's patents.
DataTreasury's pending infringement lawsuits include actions against Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Wachovia.
DataTreasury has accused these companies of infringing U.S. Patent Nos. 5,910,988 and 6,032,137, which were issued to DataTreasury in 1999 and 2000 for image capture, centralized processing and electronic storage of document and check information. These patents describe a technology process capable of implementing the federally enacted Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, known as "Check 21."
As part of this settlement, DataTreasury and NCR are exchanging access to one another's intellectual property. DataTreasury now has unrestricted use of all NCR patents that pertain to DataTreasury's business model (a huge swath of NCR's 2,800-patent portfolio), and NCR has the freedom to operate in DataTreasury's field. DataTreasury plans to use NCR's patents to augment the company's existing payment-technology products and to help develop new ones. NCR has also agreed to pay DataTreasury an undisclosed sum of money.
"I'm extremely pleased that we were able to come to this agreement with NCR," said DataTreasury CEO Keith DeLucia. "Access to this number of high-quality payment-processing patents gives DataTreasury a real competitive edge, and it will help us to build our product line in major ways."
"My client has come a long way," said Ed Hohn, lead counsel for DataTreasury. "This company and its investors were forced to take their patents to court, and they have fought tooth-and-nail to get their intellectual property recognized. That recognition is now underway, and the company has been able to build bridges with industry leaders like NCR and JPMorgan Chase." Rod Cooper, patent-and-licensing counsel for DataTreasury, had this to add: "This collaboration is good for both companies. NCR avoids continued litigation that could limit its scope of business, and DataTreasury will be able to greatly enhance its products and services."
As part of their settlements, JPMorgan Chase, Bank One and Groupe Ingenico issued Consent Judgments admitting that DataTreasury's patents are valid and enforceable. JPMorgan Chase and Bank One also admitted that they had infringed these patents.