Postal Service Settles With Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Inc. will get $51.75 million from the U.S. Postal Service to settle a lawsuit the company filed over revenue from its electronic postage-resetting system. The computerized postage meter system, which has been used since 1979, allows customers to reset the meters via telephone. Stamford, Conn.-based Pitney Bowes developed and patented the technology in the 1960s. The original 1978 agreement, under which Pitney kept revenue from interest accrued on customers’ accounts, was revoked by the Postal Service in 1995. The company sued the federal agency two years later, claiming it needed the funds to compensate for the development, maintenance and administration of the system. Shares of Pitney Bowes closed down $1.44 at $62.19 on the NYSE.