Wells Fargo Bank has countersued USAA over its allegations that the San Francisco-based bank infringed on patents the San Antonio financial service company holds on technology that allows users to deposit checks using mobile devices.

In its lawsuit filed Tuesday, Wells Fargo wants a federal court in Marshall in East Texas to rule that Wells Fargo doesn’t infringe on any of the USAA’s asserted patents. The suit also asks that the patents in question be declared invalid.

In addition, Wells Fargo seeks a permanent injunction restraining USAA and its officials from “charging or threatening” that Wells Fargo has infringed on those patents.

Finally, Wells Fargo is asking for unspecified attorneys’ fees and costs incurred from defending itself against USAA’s lawsuit.

USAA spokesman Roger Wildermuth declined to comment. Wells Fargo spokeswoman Tymika Morrison said the company does not comment on litigation.

USAA sued Wells Fargo in June, seeking unspecified financial damages.

It’s the first lawsuit USAA filed since it warned last year that it would be reaching out to banks and credit unions to “pay their fair share” by licensing the company’s patented technology that allows customers to deposit checks remotely using mobile devices.

“Wells Fargo is one of the biggest adopters of remote deposit capture,” Nathan McKinley, USAA’s head of Corporate Development, told the San Antonio Express-News after it filed its suit. “We believe they are leveraging the technology to improve their bottom line, and they failed to take a license.”

Wells Fargo denies most of the allegations raised by USAA in its lawsuit, including that USAA’s technology “allowed customers to deposit checks anytime, anywhere by taking photographs with a mobile phone’s digital camera.”

Wells Fargo contends that “taking and processing check images using a digital camera or mobile device was well-understood, routine, and conventional prior” to USAA’s asserted patents.

Marshall, where USAA filed suit, is known as a popular venue for patent lawsuits, according to a Bloomberg article last year.

Marshall became notorious in patent circles by the early 2000s for its “rocket docket,” rules designed to move patent cases along quickly, Bloomberg reported.

Patrick Danner is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD

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Wells Fargo countersues USAA over patent infringement claims