DataTreasury
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial technology |
| Founded | 1998 in Melville, New York, United States |
| Founder | Claudio Ballard |
| Headquarters | Plano, Texas , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Claudio Ballard (Founder) |
| Products | eImageVault (imaging platform) |
DataTreasury is a United States-based fintech enterprise headquartered in Plano, Texas. The company specializes in creating, acquiring, and licensing technologies for the secure capture and archival of check images, maintaining an extensive patent portfolio in this domain which it rigorously defends.
History
Established in 1998 by Claudio Ballard in Melville, New York, DataTreasury concentrated on electronic check processing and associated payment solutions derived from patents filed prior to its inception. These patents were officially granted in 1999 and 2000.
After facing critical financial difficulties in 2001, DataTreasury licensed its inaugural imaging platform, eImageVault, to Bank Hapoalim in 2002.
Ballard patents
Beginning in 2002, DataTreasury pursued legal action against 56 financial institutions and corporations, including JPMorgan Chase and First Data, alleging infringement of Ballard’s patents.
The enactment of the 2003 Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act ("Check 21") facilitated the exchange of digital check images among banks, significantly enhancing the importance of DataTreasury’s patented technology.
By late 2004, settlements had been reached with Affiliated Computer Services ($50,000) and RDM Corporation (involving royalty agreements). JPMorgan Chase finalized a settlement mid-2005. Legal proceedings were temporarily suspended during USPTO reexamination but recommenced once patent validity was reaffirmed.
DataTreasury moved its operations to Plano, Texas, in October 2005.
In 2005, First Data sought to invalidate the patents through USPTO reexamination; however, the patents were upheld in 2007, enabling DataTreasury to assert additional related inventions.
Merrill Lynch resolved its dispute with DataTreasury in 2006.
Legislative attempts in 2007 aimed to prevent DataTreasury from recovering damages under its patents; nonetheless, the Congressional Budget Office cautioned that such measures could expose the government to potential liabilities up to $1 billion due to patent infringement claims.
On March 26, 2010, a jury ruled that U.S. Bank and affiliated entities had infringed DataTreasury’s patents, awarding $26.6 million in damages which were subsequently doubled because of willful infringement.
WMR e-Pin patents
In February 2006, DataTreasury obtained four patents from WMR e-Pin, LLC: , , , and . Subsequently, on February 24, 2006, it initiated infringement lawsuits based on these patents against 30 banks and companies in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Settlements
Numerous prominent banks and corporations have either settled litigation with DataTreasury or secured licenses for its technology. These include:
- Affiliated Computer Services
- Bank of New York Mellon Corp
- Bank One
- Citibank
- City National Corporation
- Compass Bancshares Inc.
- Diebold
- First Data
- First Tennessee Bank
- Groupe Ingenico
- JP Morgan Chase
- Mellon Bank
- Merrill Lynch
- NCR Corporation
- PNC Financial Services
Other litigation
In April 2011, Ted Doukas filed a lawsuit against DataTreasury asserting that he provided financial support for Claudio Ballard’s image capture technology development and demanded $15 billion in proceeds. This claim against DataTreasury and its leadership was dismissed in May 2013; however, the matter remains under appeal.
Criticism
In 2004, The New York Times characterized DataTreasury as "a firm whose principal activity, aside from serving one client, seems to be initiating lawsuits against other companies." The banking sector has accused DataTreasury of manipulating the patent system by acquiring patents mainly to enforce them through litigation. Former congressman Steve Bartlett has expressed that DataTreasury's legal actions highlight flaws within patent legislation, while attorney Stephen Boyd referred to the company's legal representatives as patent trolls.
DataTreasury asserts that its founder, Ballard, developed the technology and established the company to commercialize it, only for banks to allegedly appropriate the concept and threaten the enterprise.