Verifone Sues Patent Owner to Halt Lawsuits Against Customers

Verifone Inc. asked a Delaware federal court for a judgment that its point-of-sale card-payment terminals don’t infringe five patents Near Field Electronics LLC has asserted against its customers in multiple lawsuits.

Verifone seeks a declaratory judgment of noninfringement and invalidity, pointing to at least 10 suits Near Field filed in a Texas federal court alleging Verifone’s customers infringed the patents because they used its credit card readers. Near Field has threatened more than 200 more such suits, Verifone said in a complaint filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.

• Verifone called Near Field’s claims “unfounded,” ...