Jury awards USAA $102m in second Wells Fargo dispute
In the second win for financial services company United Services Automobile Association (USAA), a jury in East Texas has awarded it $102.8 million in damages after finding Wells Fargo wilfully infringed its patents.
On Friday, January 10, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas jury awarded the damages, just months after another jury delivered a $200 million verdict in USAA’s favour.
This time around, Wells Fargo was found to have wilfully infringed on two USAA patents covering technologies relating to depositing cheques remotely via mobile phones.
USAA filed its first complaint in June 2018, before filing another suit in August that year, claiming that Wells Fargo has taken advantage of its “pioneering efforts” in mobile deposit technologies by incorporating the technologies into its apps.
“USAA recognises that the advent of mobile check deposit has revolutionised the consumer banking experience, with considerable benefits for both banks and customers. But it is improper for Wells Fargo to use, without permission, patented technologies that USAA has spent immense resources to invent, develop, implement, and perfect,” said the claim.
The juries in both cases found that the patent infringement was wilful, meaning that damages could potentially triple to more than $900 million.
In November last year, a jury issued a $200 million verdict on the June 2018 lawsuit. Since then, Wells Fargo has filed post-trial motions in the case, including a motion to stay execution of the judgment.
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