Apple Pay patent infringement claim by South Korean company

A South Korean company has made an Apple Pay patent infringement claim, arguing that it owns a 2005 patent for the mechanism used by Apple’s mobile wallet service.

The claim follows shortly after the launch of Apple Pay in the country, but the company doesn’t appear to have filed a lawsuit, or even contacted the Cupertino company …

Instead, reports Business Korea, patent assertion entity Bizmodeline has emailed four local card companies that support Apple Pay, suggesting they take legal advice.

Bizmodeline is claiming that the method of Apply Pay is almost identical to the content of their patent, including claims. The company recently sent an email to Hyundai Card, Shinhan Card, KB Card, and Hana Card, which are Apple Pay service providers in South Korea, so that they can examine legal matters related to the service.

I’m referring to Bizmodeline by the kinder term of “patent assertion entity” rather than “patent troll,” as the claim being made appears less tenuous than usual.

According to the patent, a user’s mobile phone is brought close to a payment terminal, and then a token code for one-time verification is generated on the phone. This code is sent to the payment terminal by near-field communication (NFC), a card issuer’s server receives the token code via its payment network for verification, and then the payment is processed based on the verification result.

Usually with patent trolls, the patent referenced is an absurdly broad one that should never have been allowed in the first place.

All the same, it seems likely that the company’s goal may be the usual one: to persuade Apple to make a nuisance payment to the company to have the matter go away.

Photo: Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash