U.S. District Court Judge Upholds Rulings against FICO, Denies Fair Isaac Motion for New Trial

MINNEAPOLIS--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--In another legal victory for VantageScore Solutions, LLC, , U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery on Monday denied Fair Isaac Corporation’s (FICO) request for a new trial and ordered the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to cancel Fair Isaac’s “300-850” trademark once Fair Isaac’s appeal is concluded.

“Indeed, the jury’s verdict was a wholesale, unambiguous rejection of Fair Isaac’s central theory of the case –i.e., that one can legitimately claim trademark protection in the numerical range for credit scores.”

The jury verdict stands as a result of Judge Montgomery’s ruling, upholding the decisions in favor of VantageScore Solutions in all claims made by FICO, affirming VantageScore’s ability to use its 501-990 credit score range, according to VantageScore Solutions officials.

Also substantiated was the jury’s finding that FICO made false representations during their application process to the PTO for registration of their “300-850” marks.

In her decision, Judge Montgomery addressed the jury’s finding regarding FICO’s claim to “300-850” stating, “Indeed, the jury’s verdict was a wholesale, unambiguous rejection of Fair Isaac’s central theory of the case –i.e., that one can legitimately claim trademark protection in the numerical range for credit scores.”

“The court’s decision confirms our longstanding position that FICO’s claims are meritless,” said VantageScore Solutions President and Chief Executive Officer Barrett Burns. “Their arguments have failed to convince a federal jury and judge. At every step, VantageScore has prevailed against Fair Isaac’s claims. Should FICO appeal, we remain confident we will prevail there too.”

Following the March 2006 launch of the VantageScore credit scoring model jointly developed by Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, FICO filed suit in October 2006, claiming among other things that the three credit reporting companies, along with VantageScore Solutions, LLC, were engaging in unfair and anticompetitive practices that would harm FICO.

In July 2009, Judge Montgomery dismissed FICO’s antitrust, false advertising and breach of contract claims.

About VantageScore Solutions

Stamford, Conn.-based VantageScore Solutions, LLC (www.vantagescore.com) is an independently managed company that holds the intellectual property rights to VantageScore, a generic scoring model introduced in March 2006. Created by America’s three major credit reporting companies (CRCs) — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — VantageScore’s highly predictive model uses an innovative, patent-pending scoring methodology to provide lenders with a more consistent interpretation of consumer credit files across all three major credit reporting companies and the ability to score more people.