Fair Isaac loses legal fight over rival credit-scoring system

A Minneapolis jury dealt Fair Isaac Corp. a blow Friday, ruling in favor of the company's credit-scoring competitors, VantageScore, Experian and TransUnion, in a three-year-old lawsuit brought by Fair Isaac.

The Minneapolis-based credit scoring company, which goes by the name FICO, accused the firms of trademark infringement for also using a three-digit credit score model, as well as unfair competition. Filed in 2006, the suit also accused the defendants of false advertising and violating antitrust laws. But those claims were thrown out in July by U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery.

"This case is about two things: fairness and consumer protection. While we're disappointed by this jury's verdict, we remain confident in the validity of our claims," FICO Chief Executive Mark Greene said in a statement.

"At a time when consumers most need clarity regarding their creditworthiness, it's imperative that they understand whether the credit scores they purchase are FICO scores -- which are used by most lenders to make decisions -- or merely look-alike scores not actually used by lenders to make lending decisions." Greene was not available for further comment. Fair Isaac said it plans to appeal.

VantageScore CEO Barrett Burns said the decision is a victory for consumers, because competition will breed better credit scoring models. "We believe we're a more predictive, more accurate score than FICO," he said.

VantageScore was created by the three major credit bureaus as an alternative to the FICO score with the hope that it would take over some market share in the high-margin credit scoring business and reduce the royalties the bureaus pay each time the bureau sells a FICO score.

Today, VantageScore is being used by eight of the top 25 financial institutions. It is calculated on a range of 501 to 990, with corresponding letter grades. The FICO score ranges from 300 to 850. FICO argued that the overlap confuses consumers. "The last thing we want is to be confused with FICO," Burns said. "If anything, we want to distance ourselves from FICO."

There is also the undetermined consequence of the jury's finding that FICO knowingly made a false representation of fact when applying for its trademark of the 300-to-850 scoring range. That was in response to Experian's counterclaim that FICO committed fraud with its trademark application. Barbara Berens, an attorney with Kelly and Berens in Minneapolis who represented VantageScore, said she's not aware of any regulatory repercussions. However, she added, "It's significant because it makes it extraordinarily difficult for Fair Isaac to go back at any point to try and get a trademark on this '300-850' mark."

FICO shares closed Friday at $18.71, down 6 cents.