Teriyaki Sauce Tycoon Junki Yoshida Is Getting Sued Over Tech Invention

Suit demands "no less than $100,000."

By Coby Hutzler

A Washington tech inventor is suing Troutdale teriyaki-sauce magnate Junki Yoshida in federal court, claiming Yoshida stole the idea for a credit-card reader that protects customers from identity theft.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 23 in U.S. District Court, says Yoshida was the sole investor in a patent filed by Kenichi "Ken" Uchikura, but Yoshida cut him out of royalty money. The patent was for a new credit-card authentication system that withholds cardholders' information, possibly thwarting the sorts of massive hacks directed at Target and Home Depot in recent years.

The suit claims that "hopelessly contradictory and unintelligible" sections of the agreement between Yoshida and Uchikura, when parsed, imply that Uchikura actually gets no royalty money. Uchikura wants at least $100,000.

Yoshida did not return calls seeking comment.

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