WHY BANKS ARE NOW IMPLEMENTING PATENT PROGRAMS AND HOW PATENT LEGISLATIVE REFORMS WILL AFFECT BANKS

Financial method patents, sometimes called business method patents, have proliferated over the last 10 years. Banks, large and small, and other financial service providers are filing for patents in record numbers in order to protect their technology. Meanwhile, a number of high profile cases have demonstrated that financial patents can be successfully enforced against banks and other financial service providers. At the same time, there is a growing chorus of critics who believe that certain reforms need to be made to eliminate some perceived abuses of the Patent System. This article examines the growing importance of patents to banks, the various proposed patent reforms, and how they may be expected to impact the banking industry if the proposed reforms are implemented by Congress. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACTS]