American Express sued over ‘copying secrets’ of money-saving travel software

AMERICAN EXPRESS is being sued for allegedly exploiting the commercial secrets of new software that could save business travellers vast amounts of money when booking their flights.

The legal dispute concerns a software called Lastfare, which is marketed to American Express customers and monitors airline ticket prices automatically and then offers them a cheaper ticket if available.

The Spanish software company Trappit SA has filed a High Court writ which claims that a UK subsidiary of American Express copied the “trade secrets” of its software, known as Arpo, which provides the same function.

Trappit SA claims that in February 2014, it presented its new software product to Katrina Cliffe, general manager of Amex Business Travel Europe, who described Arpo as a “game changer”.

The claim states: “At that time Amex Europe was not aware of any product with similar functionality and was not working on its own software.

“It follows that Lastfare was produced in less than a year. Lastfare could not have been produced in that period of time without copying and/or misusing the confidential information.”

The claim by Trappit SA alleges “unlawful use of intellectual property” and “no third party product offers the same features as Arpo”.

The company says that it was careful to keep its software secret and confidential to preserve its value and American Express signed a non-disclosure agreement.

American Express strongly denies the allegations. In its defence, filed last month, the company states: “There was no unlawful means and GBT UK [the American Express subsidiary] did not intend to injure Trappit SA. The facts do not amount to interference with the freedom of any (or any identified) third party in a way which is unlawful.

“There was no agreement or combination between Amex Europe and GBT UK and/or anyone else to use Arpo Information and/or the Arpo Source Code, object code, databases or installation manuals to produce their own version of Arpo.

“There was no breach of confidence or copyright infringement.”

A trial in the High Court is scheduled for next year.