(Adds Fair Issac comment)
A federal judge on Monday denied Fair Isaac Corp.'s (FICO)
request for a new trial, leaving in place a jury verdict that
favored the defendants in the credit-scoring company's lawsuit
accusing rival VantageScore Solutions and national credit-reporting
agencies Experian PLC (EXPGY, EXPN.LN) and TransUnion LLC of
trademark infringement and unfair competition.
U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery also ordered Monday the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Fair Isaac's "300-850"
trademark once the company's appeal is finished.
In November, a federal jury rejected an argument by Fair Isaac,
which developed the FICO credit score, that the defendants'
advertising and other tactics "deliberately confuse customers into
purchasing their credit scores under the false belief that they are
FICO scores, or that the scores they buy from these companies are
used by their lenders to make credit decisions --neither of which
is the case."
In her decision, Montgomery said the jury 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."
Barrett Burns, president of VantageScore, which was created in
2006 by Experian, TransUnion and Equifax Inc. (EFX), said Wednesday
"the court's decision confirms our longstanding position that
FICO's claims are meritless."
Last summer, Montgomery dismissed Fair Isaac's antitrust,
false-advertising and breach-of-contract claims in a lawsuit filed
in 2006.
A Fair Isaac spokesman said the company plans to appeal
Montgomery's ruling. "We strongly disagree with the court's
decision."
-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357;
Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com