USAA Sues Mitek Over Mobile RDC Technology

San Antonio-based USAA Bank has filed a lawsuit against image analytics and mobile document capture provider Mitek Systems, alleging the company appropriated its trade secrets and technology when developing its mobile RDC system.

The suit was filed on March 29 in the U.S. District Court, Western District, located in San Antonio. USAA's claims against Mitek include "misappropriation of USAA's proprietary information", breach of contract and fraud.

[Related Content: Fiserv Filed Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against FIS ]

"USAA invented remote deposit capture technology to meet the needs of our highly mobile military membership, enabling them to deposit checks with a scanner or smartphone wherever they may be stationed," said USAA spokesman Paul Berry. "USAA has invested substantial time and money in the development and implementation of an invention which has revolutionized the banking industry. Mitek misappropriated USAA's proprietary and confidential information while working under contract for USAA, and then took numerous steps to claim it as its own."

Mitek, however, responded by claiming that the lawsuit is without merit and in fact that USAA stole its mobile RDC technology.

"Mitek believes that the evidence will ultimately show that Mitek's engineers independently developed its mobile deposit software and related patents based on Mitek's own ideas," read a statement form the company. "Far from concealing the facts from USAA, Mitek launched its mobile deposit product in January 2008 and repeatedly and openly made USAA aware of the product at multiple points during 2008 and afterwards. USAA launched its own mobile check deposit application utilizing Mitek's patented technology in or around August 2009, more than a year after Mitek, and long after it first learned about Mitek's product."

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio