Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) is an American software company that produces test and learn software used for business analytics. The company was founded in 1999, and was acquired by Mastercard in 2015.[3]
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Industry | Software as a service |
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Founded | 1999[1] |
Founder | |
Headquarters | Arlington, Virginia, United States[1] |
Number of employees | 600 |
Website | mastercardservices |
History
editAPT was founded in December 1999[4] by business consulting executives Jim Manzi (Oliver Wyman), Anthony Bruce (McKinsey & Company), and Scott Setrakian (Oliver Wyman).[5] Manzi had the initial idea for APT in 1988 when he thought of a test he could apply to a bank and its branches.[6] He explained to The Washington Post that "a lot of the work I was doing as a consultant was very repetitive. I realized how much of it could be put into a software model.”[7] In September 2001, the company signed its first client. It expanded, and in 2006, Accel-KKR acquired a majority stake in APT with a $54 million investment, and in 2013, Goldman Sachs invested $100 million.[8][6] Mastercard acquired APT for $600 million in 2015.[9]
Software
editAPT (now Mastercard) produces test and learn software for business analytics.[10]
In February 2011, APT was awarded a patent that protects its core analytic technology for designing an in-market test and on matching test stores to control stores.[11] One of the company's patents was invalidated in 2020 by the US district court.[12]
Commercial applications of APT's Test & Learn software have included food companies evaluating effects of new items on sales of existing products,[13] as well as whether a promotional discount would be offset by increased sales of other products.[14] The software has also been used non-commercially to analyze the effectiveness of a 911 diversion program for mental health related calls the city of St. Louis, Missouri launched in 2021.[15]
Litigation
editAPT filed a lawsuit against the company MarketDial in June 2018 alleging that MarketDial's co-founders stole trade secrets that they had access to while working as consultants, and that the company infringed on a patent held by APT. The patent infringement claim was dismissed by a judge in November 2020, along with claims of civil conspiracy and fraud.[16][17]
In April 2024, the presiding judge granted[18] MarketDial's request for summary judgment. According to Bloomberg Law:
"[Judge] Parrish concluded APT fell well short of explaining what particular elements of its documents were not widely ascertainable or establishing how each had independent economic value as a secret.
“'Summary judgment was Plaintiff’s chance to put its cards on the table and make an argument, rather than simply string-cite exhibits and insist that from the mosaic of exhibits a trade secret might emerge at trial,' Parrish wrote. 'Simply stated, this court will not do APT’s job for it by mining its trade secrets from the raw materials, dusting off known information and techniques, and preparing its case for submission to the jury.'
"She also expressed 'grave doubt' that APT had shown the information claimed as a trade secret was improperly acquired or used."[19]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Applied Predictive Technologies, Inc.: Private Company Information". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
- ^ a b c "APT Management". Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
- ^ "Financial Times". Retrieved 7 December 2011.
- ^ "Applied Predictive Technologies". Bloomberg News. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ Hayes, Heather B. (May 2006). "2006 Fantastic 50: Applied Predictive Technologies". Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
- ^ a b Heath, Thomas (October 18, 2013). "APT has a legion of geeks that help analyze data so companies can make better decisions". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ McCarthy, Ellen. "Applied Predictive Technologies Makes Consulting Automatic." The Washington Post 20 August 2001. E5. Print.
- ^ "What does Goldman Sachs' $100m investment in APT mean for big data analytics?". 27 June 2013.
- ^ Heath, Thomas (April 30, 2015). "What does Ballston firm have that drew $600 million from MasterCard?". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ Davenport, Thomas H. (February 2009). "How to Design Smart Business Experiments". Harvard Business Review.
- ^ "United States Patent No. 7,895,072". 22 February 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "MEMORANDUM DECISION" (PDF). 25 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ Wells, Nick; Chemi, Eric (August 16, 2017). "Meet the man helping companies like Wawa and McDonald's make winning decisions using big data". CNBC. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
- ^ Wall, Matthew (August 18, 2015). "From pizzas to cocktails the data crunching way". BBC. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
- ^ Lippmann, Rachel (February 17, 2022). "St. Louis mental health diversion programs helped residents and saved the city $2.6M". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
- ^ Yasiejko, Christopher (June 29, 2018). "Mastercard Claims Ex-Contractor Stole Secrets, Infringes Patent". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
- ^ Jackson, Jasmin (April 11, 2022). "Judge Trims MasterCard Unit's IP Suit Over Analytics Software". Law360. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
- ^ "CM/ECF - U.S. District Court:utd". ecf.utd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
- ^ Jahner, Kyle (13 Aug 2024). "Mastercard Unit Failed to Define Trade Secrets, Utah Court Says". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 14 Aug 2024.