Patent Dispute Spreads on Indirect Auto Loan Technology

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. – DealerTrack Holdings said last week it has received a new U.S. patent for its online credit application process and added it to an expanding legal dispute with RouteOne LLC and Finance Express LLC, two other providers of indirect auto lending finance services for credit unions and banks. DealerTrack has filed a patent infringement suit against the two firms in federal court in California, claiming the two competitors are using the company’s patented technology for computer-implemented applications for routing and managing credit applications and decision making for auto financing. A hearing on the widening patent dispute is scheduled for June in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. RouteOne, which has been expanding its credit union market, is a joint venture of DaimlerChrysler Services LLC, Fort Motor Credit Corp., General Motors Acceptance Corp. and Toyota Financial Services. In its suit, DealerTrack claims that RouteOne has induced its client financial institutions to also infringe on the company’s patents because of the sue of the RouteOne system.