Two of the three U.S. credit- reporting companies, TransUnion LLC and Experian PLC, won a court bid to dismiss antitrust claims filed by credit-score provider Fair Isaac Corp.
U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery in Minneapolis granted a motion July 24 to throw out Fair Isaac’s claims that TransUnion and Experian, along with Equifax Inc., tried to monopolize the credit-scoring market when they formed a joint venture and announced the VantageScore credit-reporting model in 2006.
The suit claimed the bureaus tried to use VantageScore to eliminate Fair Isaac’s FICO score, which it licenses to the three credit-reporting companies. Equifax settled the case on undisclosed terms in 2008.
In the decision, Montgomery also dismissed Fair Isaac’s contract and false advertising claims against TransUnion and Experian. She declined a request to dismiss claims the two credit-reporting companies violated Fair Isaac’s trademarks.
In a statement Monday, Fair Isaac, which now calls itself FICO, said it believes that “VantageScore remains an illegal presence in the market” and plans to appeal Monday’s decision after a trial on the remaining claims in the case.
