Financial patenting in Europe
Bronwyn Hall, Grid Thoma & Salvatore Torrisi
#2010-011
We take a first look at financial patents at the European Patent Office
(EPO). As is the case at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the
number of financial patents in Europe has increased significantly in
parallel with significant changes in payment and financial systems.
Scholars have argued that financial patents, like other business methods
patents, have low value and are owned for strategic reasons rather than
for protecting real inventions. We find that established firms in
non-financial sectors with diversified patent portfolios own a large
share of financial patents at the EPO. However, new specialized
technology providers in the financial area also hold a number of such
patents. Decisions on the financial patent applications take longer and
they are more likely to be refused by the patent office, suggesting
greater uncertainty over validity than for other patents. They are also
more likely to be opposed, which is consistent with the fact that their
other economic value indicators are higher.
Keywords: market valuation, intangible assets, patents, software
JEL No. G20,L86,O31,O34
UNU-MERIT Working Papers
ISSN 1871-9872
