Apple, Visa Face Patent Infringement Lawsuit Over Apple Pay
- Massachusetts company claims ownership of four patents
- Suit claims companies shunned partnership with patent owner
A customer using Apple Pay, via an American Express account, on an iPhone spends at a Pret A Manger store in London.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Apple Inc. and Visa Inc. are facing claims by Universal Secure Registry, a small Boston-area company, that their mobile-payment partnership infringes four of its patents.
In a federal lawsuit filed in Wilmington, Delaware, USR said it sent Apple a series of letters in 2010 describing its patented technology and seeking a partnership long before Apple Pay’s debut. One letter detailed USR’s patent for using biometrics to authenticate identity on a smartphone, according to the complaint filed May 21.