Disney struck by lawsuit over tracking device

Disney has been sued for allegedly infringing three patents covering technology that monitors the attendance of visitors to one of its theme parks.

Technology company InCom filed a complaint at the US District Court for the Central District of California on April 22, in which it claimed that Disney infringed US patent numbers 8,353,705, 7,336,185 and 7,812,779.

InCom has taken issue with Disney’s MagicBand device, used at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

InCom claimed Disney has sold millions of these bands to visitors.

The technology company has claimed that it developed the patents as part of its own attendance tracking software, which it sells to schools and universities. InCom claimed in its complaint that it made Disney aware of the patents in correspondence between the two companies in January, 2014.

The court document states: “Disney has deliberately persisted in infringing acts despite its knowledge of the patents, and as such is wilfully infringing.”

InCom has requested damages from Disney, but the amount it is seeking has not been confirmed. It has also asked for a judgment that would require Disney to pay its legal costs.

Disney did not respond to a request for comment.