SunTrust Banks Inc. of Atlanta has agreed to license a portfolio of patents covering interactive voice systems from Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing LP.
Katz, of Los Angeles, announced the nonexclusive agreement Wednesday. It did not give the financial terms.
Katz owns more than 50 patents related to the operations of automated call centers, and has protected its technology aggressively.
According to some estimates it has filed more than 3,000 patent-infringement cases over the past 15 years.
More than 150 companies have licensed the Katz technologies, including American Express Co., Bank of America Corp., BB&T Corp., Equifax Inc., First Data Corp., First National Bank of Omaha, HSBC Bank USA, KeyCorp, Mellon Financial Corp., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Wachovia Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co.
