an article written by Marcel van Oost
Fintiv has sued Apple in Georgia, claiming the tech giant built Apple Pay on proprietary mobile wallet technology obtained under false pretenses over a decade ago. The case alleges violations of federal and state racketeering laws and trade secret statutes.
Fintiv Inc has filed a civil lawsuit in the Northern District of Georgia accusing Apple of building Apple Pay on technology it obtained under false pretenses more than a decade ago. The case, brought by Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, alleges violations of federal and state racketeering laws as well as trade secret statutes.
According to the filing, Apple first approached CorFire (Fintiv’s predecessor) in 2011 with the idea of a potential mobile payments partnership. Over the next year, representatives from both companies met several times under nondisclosure agreements.
CorFire shared technical details of its secure element design, NFC integration, and trusted service management platform, which it believed would form the basis of a licensing deal. Instead, the complaint says, Apple abandoned talks, hired away key CorFire employees, and launched Apple Pay in 2014 using those innovations.
The lawsuit claims Apple Pay became the centerpiece of what Fintiv describes as an „association in fact enterprise” with major banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Citi and card networks including Visa and Mastercard. This network, the suit alleges, processes billions of transactions and trillions in payments each year, generating tens of billions in revenue.
„By modifying Apple Pay for use on four separate categories of its devices, Apple has repeated and compounded its theft by knowingly utilizing Fintiv’s stolen technology in the hundreds of millions of iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and MacBooks it has sold worldwide,” the complaint alleges.
Fintiv also accuses Apple of following a broader pattern. The filing cites previous disputes with Masimo Corp over blood oxygen monitoring technology and Valencell Inc over heart rate sensors. In each case, Fintiv alleges, Apple initiated partnership talks, gained access to proprietary designs, and later incorporated them into its own products without licensing or payment.
„Apple Pay is the engine that drives the RICO Enterprise,” the complaint reads. „Without the on-going benefit of Fintiv’s stolen mobile wallet technology and trade secrets, Apple’s ability to generate billions utilizing Apple Pay would be severely compromised.” Fintiv’s lead attorney, Marc Kasowitz, calls the matter „a colossal case of wrongdoing” and pledges to hold Apple accountable for what he describes as decades-long corporate misconduct.
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