A federal judge has doubled the damages US Bank must pay DataTreasury for cheque processing technology patent infringements to around $54 million.
In March a jury awarded DataTreasury $26.6 million in damages after finding that US Bank and Viewpointe - a technology firm owned by US Bank and other financial institutions - wilfully infringed the company's two cheque-imaging patents.
DataTreasury asked for "enhanced damages" prompting district judge David Folsom to double the award and add interest payments "to more effectively punish the wilful infringement found by the jury", taking the total award to around $60 million.
Since 2002, DataTreasury has taken numerous organisations to court, arguing that the US banking industry has "deliberately and systematically infringed" its patents for image capture, centralised processing and electronic storage of document and cheque information.
It has settled with several players over the years but in October will go to trial against Bank of America, LaSalle, and SunTrust.