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Patent office invalidates 3 USAA mobile check deposit patents
Litigation surrounding remote deposit capture (RDC) technology continues. The U.S. Patent Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently invalidated three of USAA’s patents related to mobile check deposit.
The board reviewed the patents at the request of PNC Bank. Last year, a federal jury in Texas awarded USAA over $218 million from PNC for infringing on at least one of four mobile banking patents. USAA indicated it will appeal the patent board’s decision, which could be used to overturn the Texas decision.
USAA has argued other financial institutions’ use of RDC technology infringes on its patents for almost a decade. In 2021, USAA and Wells Fargo reached a settlement in a pair of related lawsuits in which juries found Wells Fargo liable to pay $300 million for violating patents.
USAA in late 2017/early 2018 began sending letters to credit unions alleging that the credit union's RDC technology infringed on patents owned by USAA. Through these letters, USAA sought voluntary licensing fees from other financial institutions and invited credit unions to call the firm to discuss licensing USAA patents.
In addition to these cases, NAFCU has also monitored a vendor's request for judgment that its technology does not infringe on USAA's patents. Mitek Systems – the vendor – provides RDC technology to Wells Fargo and thousands of other financial institutions. Following last year’s PNC decision, a U.S. appeals court restored Mitek’s lawsuit, saying more consideration should have been given to it before it was dismissed.
NAFCU has additional information available in a Compliance Monitor article, as well as a Compliance Blog post that further details the lawsuits and explains the patents in question. The association will continue to monitor developments and provide credit unions with up-to-date information.