Fiserv Inc. of Brookfield, Wis., said Thursday that its twomajor payment subsidiaries, CheckFree Corp. and CashEdge Inc., havefiled a patent infringement suit against FIS in Jacksonville, Fla.,and its Metavante Corp. subsidiary.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District ofFlorida charges FIS with infringing on Fiserv patents with theFlorida company's Payment Manager products for inter-bankaccount-to-account fund transfers, process payment instructions andelectronic biller notifications.

“Fiserv is a leader in providing innovative and complextechnology solutions and has devoted significant resourcesdeveloping and maintaining an extensive intellectual propertyportfolio,” the company said in a statement.

“These valuable assets, and the patent protection Fiserv hasbeen granted, enable Fiserv to create and deliver cutting-edgetechnologies that meet evolving market needs. We have aresponsibility to protect our intellectual property from furtherinfringement and exploitation,” the statement said.

Fiserv bought CashEdge for $465 million last summer, its largest acquisition since it bought CheckFree for $4.4billion in 2007. FIS bought Metavante in 2009.

FIS officials were not available Thursday afternoon for commenton the lawsuit.