VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY), the largest maker of credit-card terminals, was sued by Creative Mobile Technologies LLC for more than $250 million over an agreement to place advertisements on screens in New York taxis.
Creative Mobile was founded in 2005 in response to the city’s mandate that cabs install passenger information monitors, according to the complaint filed today in state court in Manhattan.
Creative Mobile, based in New York, developed media systems that are now in more than 6,600 city cabs, and it entered into a sales agreement with Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc.’s Clear Channel Taxi Media LLC to place ads on the screens, according to the complaint.
VeriFone acquired Clear Channel Taxi Media in 2009. The suit accuses the San Jose, California-based company of “intentionally and maliciously” violating and interfering with Creative Mobile’s rights under the agreement and causing Clear Channel Taxi Media to breach the pact, according to the complaint.
Creative Mobile accuses VeriFone of refusing to supply data and information needed to calculate amounts due under the agreement and putting ads on screens not operated by Creative Mobile while not paying the company its share of revenues under the pact. Continue reading