Using patents to protect financial process innovations in Europe, China, and India

In March 2013, we reported on the friction within U.S. courts on determining the patentability of financial processes. Because the U.S. Supreme Court failed to articulate a bright-line test for determining when innovations in the financial services sector are patentable processes versus unpatentable "abstract ideas," courts have struggled to distinguish abstract ideas from patentable financial processes, resulting in inconsistent decisions and a split within the Federal Circuit. The difficulty in analyzing the patentabilty of financial processes and software, however, is not unique to the U.S. Patent systems in Europe, China and India have also struggled to formulate clear standards for determining when financial processes are patentable. This article discusses the differences between the ways the U.S., and Europe, China, and India, examine patent applications for financial processes, and how different countries allow patent holders to enforce their patent rights. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]