VantageScore Solutions Awarded Another Complete Court Victory Against FICO
Source: VantageScore Solutions, LLC
On Wednesday August 17, 2011, 11:15 am EDT
STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
VantageScore Solutions, LLC, the company that produces VantageScore, a
generic credit score developed as a joint venture among the three
national credit reporting companies (CRCs), announced today that a
three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
issued a decision rejecting an appeal filed by Fair Isaac Corporation
(FICO).
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appealsā decision vindicates VantageScore
again by affirming all earlier outcomes, including a July 2009 grant of
summary judgment by Judge Ann D. Montgomery of the U.S. District Court
of Minnesota and a November 2009 federal jury verdict.
In July 2009, Judge Montgomery rejected as a matter of law FICOās claims
of anti-competitive behavior, false advertising, and unreasonable and
illegal restraint of trade. The Eight Circuit affirmed that ruling in
its entirety.
In November 2009, the federal jury determined that FICO had no trademark
rights in its scoring range, and therefore that the VantageScoreĀ®
numeric range could not constitute trademark infringement, another
determination affirmed by the Eighth Circuit. As a result, the District
Courtās order to cancel FICOās trademark registration of the numerical
scale of 300 – 850 remains in place.
āIām extremely gratified to put this lawsuit behind us and I look
forward to an open market free from the encumbrance of litigation,ā said
Barrett Burns, president and CEO of VantageScore Solutions. āThis is a
complete victory and ultimately consumers and lenders will benefit from
healthy competition in the credit scoring marketplace as VantageScore
has already raised the bar for credit scores in terms of predictiveness,
inclusiveness, and consistency.ā
FICO filed the lawsuit in October 2006 following the launch of the
VantageScore credit scoring model by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion,
claiming the three credit reporting companies, along with VantageScore
Solutions, were engaging in unfair and anticompetitive practices that
would harm the FICO credit score brand.
The VantageScoreĀ® system is used by numerous lenders, making billions of
decisions annually, including four of the top five financial
institutions, five of the top five credit card issuers, two of the top
five auto lenders, and one of the top five mortgage lenders. Recent
media reports disclosed that banking giant Chase adopted VantageScoreĀ®
in January of 2011. Secondary market participants including Fitch and
S&P also rate securitized loan package issues using VantageScoreĀ®.
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 new generic scoring model introduced in March
2006. Created by Americaās three major credit reporting companies (CRCs)
ā Equifax, Experian and TransUnion ā VantageScoreās 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.
Contact:
VantageScore Solutions, LLC
Jeff Richardson, 203-363-2170
jeffrichardson@vantagescore.com
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