Aetna Gets Health Benefits Debit Card Patent Claims Dismissed

AlexSam Inc. failed to state a claim that Aetna Inc. infringed its patent covering a debit-and-medical-services card and a system to process it, with a Connecticut federal court citing licensing and other problems in its ruling.

AlexSam sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleging the health insurer infringed U.S. Patent No. 6,000,608.

The patent relates to a “medical information card that will perform as a normal bank card to to purchase goods and services,” based on the use of its FSA and HSA debit cards over Visa and MasterCard networks.

The court found Aetna’s MasterCard ...