A California technology company has filed suit for the second time against the Financial Accounting Standards Board, alleging antitrust violations and willfully attempting to misappropriate patented technology after it submitted a comment to FASB recommending its technology.
Silicon Economics Inc. filed suit in federal district court in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday against FASB and its parent organization, the Financial Accounting Foundation. The lawsuit concerns Silicon Economics' EarningsPower Accounting, a patented method developed by the company to improve the accuracy, validity and usefulness of financial statements. Silicon Economics recommended the merits of the technology to FASB in response to FASB's request for public comment on the objectives of financial accounting (No. 1260-001, July 6, 2006).
FASB then claimed that its Web site terms and conditions gave it ownership of Silicon Economics’ technology, even though such terms were not part of FASB’s invitation for public comment or otherwise disclosed to Silicon Economics.
“FASB’s unlawful attempt to appropriate SEI’s intellectual property undermines innovation and competition, and harms the US economy,” said Perry J. Narancic of Narancic & Katzman, PC in Menlo Park, Calif., legal counsel for Silicon Economics, Inc., “SEI will defend its intellectual property vigorously.”
A FASB spokesperson declined to comment.
In defense of its ownership of EPA, SEI filed suit against FASB last May in federal district court in San Jose, Calif., but the court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction, forcing SEI to file in Delaware (see
