US government owes over $100m for TSA's patent infringement

The US government owes a patent holding company at least $103m because of the TSA's misuse of its technology for handling trays at airport security checkpoints, a Washington, DC-based federal court said. In an opinion made public Friday, the US Court of Federal Claims said the TSA used SecurityPoint Holdings' patented methods for most of its security screenings at the largest US airports since 2008 without compensating it. The US Department of Justice, which represented the US government, declined to comment. St. Petersburg, Florida-based SecurityPoint's founder Joseph Ambrefe offered the TSA a license to his patent in 2005 in exchange for the exclusive right to advertise on the trays at US airports. The TSA had success testing SecurityPoint's technology and equipment, but refused SecurityPoint's offer. The court said the TSA began using the same method with its own equipment later that year at most or all of the airports under its control, and SecurityPoint sued the US government for patent infringement in 2011. The government conceded that it had used the technology since 2008 in 10 airports including Dallas/Fort Worth, Boston Logan, Phoenix Sky Harbor and all three major Washington, DC-area airports. The court rejected the government's arguments that SecurityPoint's patent was invalid in 2015, leaving questions about the extent of the government's infringement and how much it owed in damages.<br/>