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Jury selection for USAA's second lawsuit against Wells Fargo related to remote deposit capture (RDC) technology began Monday. Late last year, a jury in Texas determined that Wells Fargo had intentionally infringed on USAA's mobile RDC patents, resulting in $200 million in damages to be paid by Wells Fargo to USAA and a myriad of unresolved legal questions.  

Wells Fargo, in December, filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas asking the court to stay the judgement in the previous case pending any post-judgment motions. While the bank still has not indicated whether it will appeal this decision, in another sealed motion, Wells Fargo has asked for a new trial in this first case.

This second lawsuit deals with broader patents, including the technology that reads the check to verify the routing/account numbers and the information submitted by the consumer.

NAFCU is also monitoring a request from the vendor that provides Wells Fargo, and thousands of other financial institutions, with RDC technology for a federal judge in California to issue judgment that its technology does not infringe on USAA's patents.

NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt previously discussed unresolved legal questions relating to RDC patent litigation in a message to member credit unions, noting that credit unions often "offer RDC to members through a vendor or third-party’s software."

The association will continue to actively monitor the lawsuit and any open claims for potential implications on credit unions and encourages credit unions to review contracts with third-party vendors that provide RDC software to determine how indemnity is addressed.  More information on RDC litigation is also available in a Compliance Blog post.