Vivint hit with $189.7 million verdict for stealing rival CPI's customers

The federal jury in Charlotte has ordered home security provider Vivint Smart Home to pay rival CPI Security Systems Inc $189.7 million for tricking its customers into moving to Vivint's service.

Vivint sales representatives unlawfully deceived CPI customers into signing contracts with Vivint by falsely claiming that Vivint had bought CPI, thereby violating federal trademark law, competing unfairly with CPI, interfering with CPI contracts, and committing other misconduct, according to the jury,

The complaint was brought in 2020 by Charlotte-based CPI, who claimed that Vivint had its sales staff go door-to-door informing CPI clients that Vivint had acquired the business and was "taking over" their accounts.

According to CPI, its clients would mistakenly enter into "expensive, multi-year" contracts that Vivint would "make impossible for clients to cancel."

Vivint refuted the charges. It informed the court that Vivint and CPI engaged in fair competition and that clients of CPI migrated to Vivint for good reasons.

A Vivint spokesperson stated that the firm would appeal the ruling and that the damages were entirely unrelated to the overall economic impact of any conduct that CPI asserts to have taken place.

Vivint has been "taking advantage of vulnerable people across the country" for at least 15 years, according to CPI CEO Ken Gill, who expressed hope that the judgment will "end their fraud for good."

ADT LLC, a competitor of Vivint, charged the business with identical wrongdoing in a Florida lawsuit that was settled in 2018. At the time, ADT stated that Vivint will pay $10 million to resolve the legal dispute.