New York law firm Kasowitz LLP has announced it has filed a civil lawsuit against Apple on behalf of its client, Texas-based company Fintiv, in the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
In the press release, the law firm alleges that Apple violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Georgia’s RICO Act, The Defend Trade Secrets Act, and Georgia’s Trade Secret Act. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that allows extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
The firm lawsuit alleges that Apple approached Fintiv’s predecessor CorFire during the 2011 – 2012 timeframe, and received access to confidential technical information. While the smaller firm believed Apple was planning to license the company’s mobile wallet technology, the California company instead stole the confidential information, while also luring key CorFire employees away from the firm, leading to the 2014 launch.
“Apple’s theft of Fintiv’s technology is part of a pattern and practice that Apple has engaged in for years – falsely pretending to partner with companies in order to steal confidential and proprietary information under the guise of a working relationship, and thereafter hiring away key employees, all in order to steal the company’s valuable intellectual property and use it to commercialize the business on its own,” the complaint alleges.
The complaint claims Apple set up a fence by forming an “association-in-fact enterprise” with leading credit card issuing banks, like JP Morgan Chase and Citibank, and payment processing networks, like Visa and Mastercard.
It goes on to allege that by using Fintiv’s stolen mobile wallet technology and trade secrets, Apple and its other “RICO enterprise members” earn tens of billions of dollars each year through Apple Pay transactions.
“The scale of Apple’s unlawful conduct has been staggering,” the complaint alleges that Apple Pay is the “engine” that drives the group’s RICO Enterprise. The lawsuit claims that “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.”
The complaint goes on to say that the “theft” of the payment technology is part of an established pattern and practice, citing the lawsuit between Masimo and Apple over the use of Masimo’s blood oxygen measuring technology in the Apple Watch.
As reported by MacRumors, the complaint had yet to be found in the U.S. court filing system as of Thursday afternoon, so all of the above allegations and quotes are taken from the law firm’s press release.
