A judge has denied a request to force the automated teller machine manufacturer Diebold Inc. to loosen its policies for providing parts and information to independent ATM servicing companies.
The Financial and Security Products Association, which represents ATM servicers, sued Diebold in October, claiming that it was refusing to give FSPA members the components and access codes needed to work on Diebold's ATMs, including its flagship Opteva line.
The Albuquerque-based trade group had sought a preliminary injunction against Diebold, but U.S. district judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California in San Francisco ruled Friday that Diebold was under no obligation to allow the third-party maintenance companies access to its machines.
The FSPA, which has more than 300 members, said it was considering its options regarding further legal action.
Diebold, of North Canton, Ohio, has said that several patents protect its Opteva machines. Judge Alsup noted in his decision that "a patent is, by its very nature, a lawful monopoly, at least for the duration of the patent terms," and thus could be protected.
"We are extremely pleased with this decision," said David Bucci, Diebold's senior vice president of customer solutions, in a press release. "The protection of our intellectual property is critical to our ability to make ongoing improvements and innovations in service."
In March, Diebold agreed to provide the components and access codes, but the FSPA said the price was too high.
Judge Alsup said this was the association's strongest complaint against Diebold, but he wrote that the group's argument is based on the assumption that the maintenance companies cannot raise their own prices to cover the additional costs. "The record does not convincingly prove up this assumption," he wrote. "Right now, all we have is speculation of doom."
The judge questioned whether the trade group had standing to file the suit, given that Diebold's actions affect FSBA members and that the association itself was not necessarily suffering "irreparable injury."
Gwenn Bezard, a research director for the Boston market research firm Aite Group LLC, said that the ruling could make it harder for third-party maintenance companies to survive, and could encourage ATM owners "to shop at less established manufacturers."
