DALLAS-An Internet technology consulting firm has filed suit against 33 financial firms, including one credit union, claiming the firms are infringing on its patent for authenticating a website or related services.
The firm, Secure Access LLC of Plano, Texas, is asking the federal court for an injunction preventing the firms from using the technology and to order the firms to pay licensing fees and damages. Among the other defendants in the patent infringement suit are Bank of America, Zions Bank, Austin Bancorp, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Sterling Bank, Harris Bancorp, ING Direct, and InTouch CU.
Icon With A Punch
The company's so-called 191 patent provides for an icon with an additional level of functionality that allows a user to validate that current information (a web page) originates from the true owner of the icon and is not merely a copy. The method includes a user requesting a web page from a website using a web browser. The web server receives the request, retrieves the web page and forwards it to an authentication server. The authentication server inserts an authenticity key into the web page, then the page (including the authenticity key) is returned to the user. If the page includes an authenticity key, the authenticity is verified at the user's computer because the user's computer includes logic (software) to verify the authenticity. During the user configuration process, the user defines an authenticity stamp which defines the format of an authenticated page.
