Financeware sues UBS and makers of MoneyGuidePro for patent infringement

Financeware Inc., the parent of Wealthcare Capital Management IP LLC, has filed suit against UBS Financial Services Inc. for patent infringement. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges that UBS infringed on Wealthcare’s patented financial advice process and methodology “without agreement or compensation.” The suit seeks monetary damages as well as an injunction against UBS’ use of Wealthcare’s financial advice system, which incorporates MoneyGuidePro, a financial planning program from PIE Technologies Inc. UBS spokeswoman Karina Byrne declined to comment. “We believe that our recently issued patents validate that our Wealthcare process is groundbreaking in the industry,” Wealthcare Capital Management founder David B. Loeper said in a prepared statement. Wealthcare’s two patents (Nos. 7,765,138 and 7,991,675) were granted this month and a year ago, respectively. In an interview with InvestmentNews, Mr. Loeper said that the firm had not pursued litigation since its founding in 1999 but that his firm’s investment of more than $17 million in its intellectual capital had to be defended. “We’ve been innovating for years, we own the rights to our process and no one else does,” he said. “Obviously, we have made a huge investment in creating our invention and we just want to set the record straight and that we own this intellectual property,” Mr. Loeper added. There is precedent for firms paying for such services, according to Mr. Loeper, who cited the Envision platform in use at Wells Fargo Advisors, which is licensed from Wealthcare, he said. While chief executive Bob Curtis of PIE Technologies declined to be interviewed for this story, he did release a prepared statement that is to be sent to the company’s subscribers. In it, he denies any patent infringement and said his company would fight the suit. “We will aggressively defend ourselves and our customer, UBS, from these baseless claims,” Mr. Curtis said in the statement. Mr. Curtis also asserts in the statement that the lawsuit has more far-reaching potential. “This is not just a threat to MoneyGuidePro, but to our entire industry. No one should own the financial planning process and try to charge a tariff for its use,” he said.