A United States District Court in Texas recently awarded United Services Automobile Association (“USAA”) a $102.8 million verdict against Wells Fargo in a mobile deposit patent lawsuit filed in August 2018. USAA alleged that the mobile deposit capture technology used by Wells Fargo infringed on USAA’s patent held in the technology. This is the second judgment awarded to USAA in relation to its mobile deposit technology patent; it was awarded a $200 million verdict against Wells Fargo in November 2019 by the same court in a lawsuit based on related mobile deposit technology.
In light of its recent court victories, USAA has not announced how it intends to further protect its intellectual property rights, but says that it looks “forward to working with banks to create a reasonable and mutually beneficial license agreement.”3 Financial institutions that make use of mobile deposit technology should carefully review their existing contractual agreements with the third party vendors providing them with such services. Further, they should consult with such vendors to inquire what remediation steps they have in place should their financial institution customers receive demand letters or other correspondence from USAA alleging a violation of their intellectual property rights. Agreements with such vendors may include indemnity provisions that may serve to hold the financial institution harmless in the event that USAA engages in widespread enforcement of its patent rights.
3 Crosman, Penny. Wells Fargo loses another patent lawsuit to USAA. January 15, 2020. Retrieved from https://americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-loses-another-patent-lawsuit-to-usaa on February 4, 2020.