Phillipe Bennett was quoted in a recent issue of Bank Technology News, in an article discussing pressure on a federal court, by the Financial Services Roundtable and some major institutional members, to overturn the patentability of certain business method processes, and certain kinds of “intangible” intellectual property. Bennett commented on the significance of such intellectual patents to major financial institutions. “You are seeing only a handful of banks . . . that have far more significant patent portfolios than virtually all the other banks.”
Bennett also commented on the fact that banks are at a disadvantage because much of the history of technology or patentable financial practices is buried in unreadable legacy material such as antiquated computer formats or the memory banks of departed workers. “The prior art that is most relevant is what existed five to ten years ago,” said Bennett, “And that art is still buried and unavailable, even though it’s well known to the [financial] industries.”