“Third party credit card” Patent Infringement Complaint Filed
Restricted Spending Solutions LLC, a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corp., filed a complaint yesterday against 14 financial institutions, asserting infringement of a U.S. patent. The defendants, which include banks and credit card companies, allegedly issue limited charge cards designed for teenagers or corporate employees that infringe the patent. Restricted Spending is represented by SimmonsCooper.
The complaint lists the following defendants: Allow Card of America Inc, Palm Desert Investments, Wachovia Corp, PAYJr Inc, CardLab Inc, Bancorp Inc, Discover Financial Services, Bank of America Corp, Commerce Bancshares Inc, UMB Financial Corp, Fifth Third Bancorp, MasterCard International Inc, Visa USA Inc and US Bancorp.
Restricted Spending Solutions’ patent 6,044,360 for a “Third party credit card” claims a system and method of allocating funds in pre-established customer accounts.
Last year, Restricted Spending asserted U.S. Patent 7,143,064 against Apple. The patent claims a method of allocating parental funds in pre-established accounts for use by children. Restricted Spending and Apple entered into a settlement and license agreement on June 20, 2008.