Wealthcare Capital Management Inc. of Richmond, Va., has settled its copyright infringement lawsuit against Switzerland-based UBS Financial Services Inc. and PIEtech, Wealthcare announced today.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Wealthcare Capital Management, which serves individual investors, financial advisors and institutions, filed suit against UBS in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York for using PIEtech's MoneyGuidePro, which contended were its own proprietary processes for financial planning.The two patented processes involved in the suit assess a client's long-term financial goals and then use a capital-market modeling technique to determine how these goals can be achieved.

Experts predicted that if Wealthcare won the case and its patents were upheld it would raise the cost of planning software for all advisors, forcing them to do additional due diligence to prevent infringing on others' proprietary software.

"PIE is pleased with the resolution of this lawsuit and the peace of mind it gives to our present and future customers," Karla Curtis, PIEtech vice president, said.

David B. Loeper, founder and chief investment officer of Wealthcare Capital Management, would not comment on the terms of the settlememt but said he is "extraordinarily happy" with the outcome. He said Wealthcare would not have filed the suit unless they were relatively sure they could prevail. Loeper said he cannot comment further unless all parties agree comments on the terms of the settlement will be allowed. 

In a counter claim to the lawsuit, UBS and PIEtech argued that Wealthcare was trying to patent aspects of the financial planning process and that the two patents never should have been granted.

--Karen DeMasters