September 29, 2009 - A jury in the Western District of Texas has awarded the Western Union Company $16.53 million in its patent infringement lawsuit against MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc.
Western Union sued MoneyGram in May 2007, claiming that MoneyGram's "FormFree" system infringed Western Union's patented "Money Transfer by Phone" service.
MoneyGram had argued that no reasonable jury could find infringement, and even cited testimony from a Western Union technical expert that the systems were sufficiently different.
"We firmly believe that the case is without merit," said MoneyGram spokeswoman Lynda Michielutti, "and we believe we have a solid basis for appeal."