United States: Will Electronic Payments Patent Pay Off?

Complaint Filed, Think Computer Corporation v. Square, Inc., Case No. 5:14-cv-01374

Think Computer Corporation, maker of a mobile payment system marketed under the name "FaceCash," has brought suit against Square, Inc., who offers point of sale payment systems and the mobile application Square Wallet.  Think Computer's complaint, filed on March 25, 2014, alleges that Square infringes U.S. Patent No. 8,396,808, titled "Method and System for Transferring an Electronic Payment."

The complaint alleges that officers from the two companies had met in January 2011 at an event hosted by Quora, where Square was provided with FaceCash promotional material.  Thereafter, the complaint alleges, Square searched for and accessed FaceCash's website multiple times from DNS hostnames at "squareup.com."  Since Square introduced its products in May 2011, Square has marketed its products using marks that Think Computer contends are confusingly similar to its own, which were allegedly in earlier use:

(At this time, however, Think Computer is not asserting a claim for trademark infringement.)

This could be a case to watch.  It is currently pending before Magistrate Judge Grewal.

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