The parties

The case is Prove Identity, Inc. v. KYXStart, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-01325 (D. Del.), a jury demand. The complaint says Prove, formerly Payfone, Inc., works in digital identity verification and authentication. KYXStart is pleaded as a competitor offering identity verification products and services.

The patents and accused products

U.S. Patent 12,058,528, titled Identity Network Representation of Communications Device Subscriber in a Digital Domain, names inventors including Michael Stearne. U.S. Patent 12,200,816, titled Transmitting a Complement of User Parameters to a Communications Device, also names Stearne among the inventors. The complaint says Prove is the assignee of both patents.

Claim 1 of the '528 patent covers a method in which an identity verifier computing device receives a signal to verify that a subscriber with a real-world identity is co-located with a communications device, establishes a plurality of nodes of an identity network in an electronic or digital domain associated with that identity via a persistent identifier with links that include a trustworthiness parameter, updates a trustworthiness parameter of a link after interactions with a node, and transmits a verification based at least in part on that link.

Claim 1 of the '816 patent covers a method of electronically verifying possession of a communications device through an authentication operation that uses a time-limited identifier unique to that operation and passed between the computing device and the communications device, receiving personally identifiable information unique to the subscriber, determining the subscriber's identity from that information, and communicating a complement set of personally identifiable information to be pre-filled on the device display.

The complaint identifies the accused products as KYXStart's identity verification products and services, including without limitation Person Verification (KYC), Business Verification (KYB), Payments Verification (KYP), Telco Intelligence, Fraud Intelligence, and Ongoing AML Monitoring, and the software and hardware that implement them. Infringement charts are Exhibits C and D. The complaint says Prove anticipates identifying additional asserted claims in discovery.

What the complaint alleges

Counts I and II allege direct, induced, and contributory infringement under 35 U.S.C. 271. The complaint alleges knowledge from hiring former Prove employees, including Stearne as Head of Product and Renata Lowenbraun, Prove's former Vice President, Legal, Privacy & Product, who oversaw Prove's patent prosecution and is now KYXStart's General Counsel, and from a March 5, 2026 notice letter to which KYXStart responded by addressing both patent numbers. The complaint alleges continued infringement after that letter as willful. Count III is tortious interference with contract under Delaware law based on KYXStart's recruitment of Stearne in January 2025, within the one-year restrictive covenant in his Prove agreements.

The prayer asks for damages, enhanced damages for willful infringement, injunctive relief, and other relief. Prove demands a jury.

What it means

This is a competitor suit in digital identity verification with a former-employee story and pre-suit notice. The patents go to identity-network modeling and to pre-filling subscriber parameters after device authentication. Ownership from USPTO assignment records was not checked for this draft.

What to watch next

Watch for KYXStart's answer, any early motion, and whether the tortious-interference count survives with the patent claims.