CertCo Drops PayPal Patent Suit

By @NY Staff

Online risk management company CertCo said it has agreed to drop a patent infringement lawsuit against online payment company PayPal .

In a brief statement Monday, the New York-based CertCo said the settlement involved “a non-consequential payment and mutual releases.”

Spokesmen for both companies were not available for comment by press time.

CertCo’s patent covers the use of distributed computing systems that process micropayments, or small cash amounts.

Although CertCo’s suit briefly postponed PayPal’s IPO, it was not enough to derail the offering. PayPal went public at $13 and its shares have since doubled. It closed Friday at $26.60.

PayPal enables any business or consumer with an e-mail address to send and receive secure online payments and takes a cut of the transaction. It reported first quarter revenue of $48.8 million, more than triple the $14 million it took in during the same, year-ago quarter.

The results helped PayPal to declare a profit of $1.2 million, or 2 cents per share. During the same time the prior year, it had lost $29.3 million, or $5.35 per share.

CertCo was founded in 1996 by a group of banking and finance experts. It provides transactional security and risk management products and services and also makes money by enabling transactions.