Semafone begins patent infringement action against PCI Pal

BOSTON, MA and GUILDFORD, UK September 15, 2021‍

Semafone Limited (Semafone), the leading provider of data security and PCI DSS compliance solutions for call and contact centers, today announced that it has filed a lawsuit against PCI Pal PLC and its wholly-owned subsidiary, PCI Pal (UK) Limited, in the United Kingdom High Court of Justice (Patents Court) for infringement of U.K. Patent No. GB 2473376 titled "Signal detection and blocking for voice processing equipment" (the UK Patent), and a lawsuit against PCI Pal (U.S.) Inc. in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina for infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 8,750,471, 9,858,573, 10,402,826 and 11,049,108 each titled "Signal detection and blocking for voice processing equipment" (the US Patents).

The Semafone patents at issue concern Semafone DTMF (Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency) masking technology which provides a secure method for processing cardholder payments by telephone in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The lawsuits allege that PCI Pal's "Agent Assist" secure card payment technology infringes the UK and US Patents. Semafone seeks damages and injunctive relief to prevent further sales and marketing of the "Agent Assist" product in violation of Semafone patent rights.

"Semafone has invested significant resources in its call and contact center PCI DSS solutions that protect confidential cardholder data and in building an intellectual property portfolio around those solutions," said Gary E. Barnett, CEO of Semafone. "The Company intends to diligently and vigorously protect its patent rights for the benefit of our investors, customers, partners and employees and prevent infringing use of our patented technologies by others. Semafone remains confident in the value of its patent portfolio."