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JPMorgan's "Bitcoin-Alternative" Patent Rejected (175 Times)
Earlier in the week, we detailed JPMorgan's attempt to create their own "web cash" alternative to Bitcoin (and Sberbank's talk of doing the same). However, as M-Cam details, following the failure of the first 154 'claims', JPMorgan issued a further 20 claims - which were summarily rejected (making JPMorgan 0-175 for approved claims). As they note, The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO)’s handling of applications like JPMorgan’s ‘984 application ("Bitcoin Alternative") highlights the need to fix a broken system - patent applications of existing inventions need to be finally rejected and not be resurrected as zombies (no matter how powerful the claimant).
“BITCOIN is booming.”...?
On August 5, 2013 JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPMorgan) filed an application for an electronic mobile payment system which has eerie similarities to the popular online currency Bitcoin. Unfortunately for JPMorgan, all of the claims, totaling 175 claims, as of October 18, 2013, for published US patent application 20130317984 (the ‘984 application) have been either cancelled or rejected.
Analysis
Below is a view of JPMorgan’s ‘984 application.

After the initial 154 claims were abruptly cancelled, JPMorgan’s attorney submitted 20 additional claims which the examiner, Jagdish Patel, issued non?final rejections for all 20 of the new claims in October 2013. This makes JPMorgan 0?175 in terms of approved claims. The last 20 claims were rejected for non?patentability and indefiniteness under Title 35 United States Code (U.S.C.) Sections 101 and 112.
However, Mr. Patel might well have rejected the claims because of the ‘On Sale Bar’ rule under 35 U.S.C. Section 102(b), meaning that if the invention has been on sale for over a year then the invention is no longer patentable. Under the ‘On Sale Bar’ rule, the application could be invalid because it closely mirrors Bitcoin with features such as making free and anonymous electronic payments and Bitcoin has been in circulation since 2009.
Conclusion
The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO)’s handling of applications like JPMorgan’s ‘984 application highlights the need to fix a broken system.
Patent applications of existing inventions need to be finally rejected and not be resurrected as zombies.
Part of the problem of a system in which one third of patents are seriously or fatally impaired is that companies are allowed to patent items that their competitors have already invented.
Obviously, large financial institutions want in on the online alternative currency action. But they would be well advised to pursue novel and non?obvious approaches that do not duplicate existing commercial options with respect to a virtual medium of exchange.
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Anyone or corporation who tries to submit a patent and is REFUSED should be banned from submitting a patent for the next 12 months.
In other news... shit about to hit the fan in a major way in the middle-east.
Ynet: IDF deploying large force on #Israel-Lebanon border, where a Lebanese soldier reportedly fired into Israel earlier.
This could set off a chain reaction... Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Russia...
Meanwhile Monsignor Diamond Jim and his Mistress Blythe will be exacting revenge on the COMEX markets in T-minus 2 hours...
The patent office has clearly not seen Jaime's cuff links!
Unfortunately for JPMorgan, all of the claims, totaling 175 claims, as of October 18, 2013, for published US patent application 20130317984 (the ‘984 application) have been either cancelled or rejected.
Jamie... listen up Bro...
Someone has clearly been stealing the secret bag full of cash you need to send to the officials in charge of granting patent applications. Probably just another one of your rogue lawyers or bankers. To be safe you should fire them all.
Oh... and don't forget to patent air, water and gold while you're at it you crazy motherfucker!
I think JPM just forgot the canvas bag attachment that goes along with the application.
Free bitcoins: http://freebitco.in/?r=25727
Uh oh, here comes a flock of wah wahs...ugh BTC thread.
didn't Al Gore invent BTC?
Doesn't matter that it was rejected:
First, JPMorgan does NOT have a patent. JPMorgan has a pending patent application with claims that are potentially relevant to Bitcoin.
Second, the patent application of interest is old news. The application dates back over a decade, which precedes the advent of Bitcoin. This strongly undermines the notion that JPMorgan Chase is chasing Bitcoin’s technology.
Nevertheless, the current scenario raises the interesting question as to whether JPMorgan’s application could potentially cover Bitcoin’s technology when that application issues into a patent.
.
.
.
The application claims priority back to provisional patent applications filed as early as May 3, 1999. Accordingly, it is highly unlikely that JP Morgan filed this application with any sort of motivation to rival then-non-existant Bitcoin. However, this chronology gives rise to some interesting questions:
Could Bitcoin’s technology infringe on JPMorgan’s patent claims (when they issue)?
As discussed above, JPMorgan’s claims have not issued. (They need to be examined before they issue). However, what if the issued claims cover Bitcoin’s technology? That scenario could be a Bitcoin Killer.
http://inventingpatents.com/jpmorgan-bitcoin-killer-patent/
It's actually pretty standard in many instances - i.e. there's nothing amateurish about it. Specifically, if someone comes up with a half dozen related-but-different inventions, it may be more efficient to write one giant application than a half dozen applications that repeat parts of each other. That one giant application may then have [drumroll] 170 claims. And when you file it, you actually file one and cancel claims 21-170 in a preliminary amendment on the filing date, "somehow managing to avoid paying the excess claims fees". And then later (or at the same time), you file a divisional application and cancel claims 1-20 and claims 41-170. And another canceling claims 1-40 and 61-170. Etc.
http://slashdot.org/story/13/12/10/2117234/jpmorgan-files-patent-application-on-bitcoin-killer
If you like your patent, you can keep it!
My God!
fonestar is so relieved!! If Jamie had his way this would have been the end (for real this time) of Bitcoin!!
You're MDB. That is a 100% MDB comment. You're a sick man....
I'm definitely not MDB but I have been to his site and see that even Trav777 is an "accredited reporter"? WTF?
And yet you still try and argue that it's not.
Nothing but a two bit ramper for your own benefit eh...
So we can agree then, Bitcoin has a lifespan for as long as it takes for the patent to expire and then everyone tries to get out at the same time with no buyers.
Too bad its DOA thanks to CAFC , see Alice
Manbearpig!
Hehe...no, but he did invent Al Gore.
+1 for the Joe Walsh reference!
JPM is merely filing too broad a patent claim. Its ok--the parent office is actually a profit center for the USG as filing fees have to be made and coincidently JPM has deep pockets--the Fed and Taxpayer.
BYE BYE JPMorgue ! You and the rest of banking cartel can buy or mine BTC like everyone else
Nah. Russia already bitch slapped the Saudi-Israel team over Syria.
"Anyone or corporation who tries to submit a patent and is REFUSED should be banned from submitting a patent for the next 12 months."
LOL
Assuming you are being remotely serious...
For starters, when you file a patent application (non-provisional), you usually don't hear back from the Examiner re substantive examination for at least 12 months...usually more like 18 months...depending on how busy that particular art unit in the UPSTO is...
...and then you may not get a "final" rejection on your claims for another six months or so...
So, you could already easily be two years out from the filing date when you get your first "final" rejection...and "final" rejection doesn't mean the gig is up - you still have options.
For one, if you REALLY think the Examiner is wrong, you can file an appeal - which may add another 12-18 months to the process...if not more.
So, my point there is that it's not like you get a "real" FINAL decision within a week or something...and in the meantime, you may want to file more applications...
Second, just because someone files an application for a claimed invention where the prior art is all over it (i.e., there is clearly nothing patentable), that doesn't at all mean the applicant did something "wrong" - because you never know what's going to turn up in the prior art - it's impossible to know for sure (however, the applicant does have a duty to disclose the "relevant" prior art that they know about).
For example, if you filed an application for a legit, honest-to-god time machine today (that actually worked), for all you know someone filed an application for the exact same thing yesterday - and there would be no way for you to know about it...as it generally takes about 18 months for applicatons to get published for everyone to see.
I'm not saying JP Morgan wasn't "abusing" the system or something here...I don't know...I'd have to look at the file warpper of the application (which anyone can do at the USPTO's website).
If they just kept filing "bullshit" "requests for continued examination" (RCEs) (which is another option after getting a "final" rejection), when they really should've known that there was really nothing patentable here, OK, that's "not cool" (or some people would say so anyway).
I'm sure there are concrete examples of this in other contexts?...... As far as Bitcoin is concerned, we all gonna need a whole shit ton moar nails fo dis here coffin.
An examiner gets two "office actions" per patent for credit to his quota which usually leads to an intitial rejection to which the applicant has to respond. Then on the second examination is where the true validity is decided. There have been cases where the first examination leads to a grant but that would be the surprise.
Not only is this article stupid, but so is your comment.
It's sad that you people have so little understanding of how the patent system works, and yet you insist on bloviating about it.
Signed,
A patent specialist
Thanks for enlightening us, bro, +1 Internets
I bet Jaimie just threw a tempertantrum.
Does that 12 acre basement gourmet take the bitcoin reservation yet?
THey grow their own scallops you know.
I guess Jamie hasn't figured out that Bitcoin is great for bribery payments!
Even if JPM managed to get the patent, it still would be down to the execution. As noted before, Canada made a big deal out of their "Mint Chip" program, which as far as I can tell, never had any users. It takes a lot more than fanfare and a patent to make a payment system, you also need people willing to use it.
JP Morgan haven't learned anything since their twitter debacle, and it shows.
Was Greenspan a consultant? http://hedge.ly/18iZ3rI
You must say he had good timing with his words.
WTf
Patent trolls.
Lol
off-topic ... but anyone seen this?
http://nypost.com/2013/12/15/inside-the-saudi-911-coverup/
Whocoodanode Boston Bandar has history!
We should classify those pesky WH visitor logs...
9/11 & Saudi involvement is never off topic.
It's the turd that will not flush...
Nice try. We know there were Saudis involved, because their passports flew out of the expoding airplanes and landed on the street below. Are you fucking kidding me? You actually believe that bullshit?
The Saudis are incapable (yes, incapable) of killing anything except a case of scotch and a pocket of Khat.
Nice. Now if they can just figure out where the Saudis got the Directed Energy weapons that brought down the towers (and melted hundreds of automobiles parked near the towers) then we can stamp this thing "case closed"!
priceless
Trying to patent something that is open source is akin to patenting freedom. Useless paper-pushers.
If banks can't become just banks again and insist on being middle-men in theft, they deserve everything that's coming...
"Trying to patent something that is open source..."
Like, say... life?
Monsanto et al come in at the end of millenia of natural selection and 10,000 years of human cultivation, shot gun a new unrelated and foreign gene into a crop and call it ALL their own with a patent... that gets granted! Yikes.
I was on the verge of another one of my massive rants, but you basically (& succinctly) said it all for me.
Patents are issued on the basis of protection - to prevent others from making commercial profit from your invention. It doesn't don't give ownership of an idea, since all ideas are free. I don't know about anyone else but these thieving bastards trying (& succeeding sometimes) to steal and monopolise all ideas makes me seethe. As mentioned, it has gotten to the ridiculous level of feudal corporcracy where life itself is being patented by fuckers like Monsanto. What if your child is born with genes that had been patented? Pay a licence to Monsanto? Shit I'd better stop before I spend another hour ranting. The whole system is insane.
This kind of shit would almost make a bunch of bankers want to push the idea down our throats that we need a pure free market where they can duplicate someone else's work product and repackage it as their own with their superior capital that enables them to market the idea to the masses and out compete the inventor of the idea, thus relegating the inventor to poverty and (if he's lucky) a footnote in history. Too bad that pesky .gov patent office fucking things up for JPM's freedom.
patent rehypothecation fail...in not so many words...loosely translated
No they can go right ahead.
They now just can't stop others doing the same.
I have to say you have a point. I did a little research on this and it looks like one of the rare occasions where Bitcoin itself is not patented, so JPM was simply trying (but failed) to secure a patent on an idea already widely in circulation but that itself is not patented to prevent the competition. So I stand corrected as far as that goes. I still think patents are a good idea to protect inventors and prevent outright theft of ideas by gigantic corporations.
Then I hate to have to inform you that the vast majority of patents are owned by gigantic corporations, who then use them to stifle innovation.
That's true, but in a lot of cases they buy them from the inventor. So the guy who developed the better mousetrap gets his just rewards.
bitcoin is really fucking your brain isn't it?
If you mean I don't understand it, guilty. But my brain hasn't actually been fucked since college. Good times, though.
As far as the meme that TBTP are befuddled by Bitcoin, keep in mind that Snowden worked for NSA. He was a good guy. For every one of him, there are 1000+ bad guys. But having said that, I hope you Bitcoin investors strike it rich. Really. Fuck the bankers.
Yeah. Because the .gov that doles out the "patents" and the "courts" that "protect" them are not complicit with said corporations.
In this instance it seems that .gov actually did the right thing. I will grant you that it is an anomoly. Don't get me started on the corrupt court system.
Look for Jamie's other brother Darryl (over at the squid) to get the patent. Right after they tell their clients they won't be getting the patent.
Well, if there's one honest guy in the federal government, it's pretty easy to believe that he'd be named Jagdish, and be a Patent Office geek.
There's a government agency doing what it's intended to do? And against vampire squid banksters? This is truly shocking.
If I worked at the patent office I wouldn't fly anywhere for a while
Resevior Dogs is my least favorite movie of my most favorite director. I might need to revist that movie in the near future. Peer-to-peer filesharing for the win!
[Soundtrack]
Quentin is an honest worker and deserves to be paid. So pay him. In this day and age with 7 billion peeps running around you can't expect any abstract concept to be contained.
Rather than trying to create a virtual currency they should be trying to create a platform for secure digital payment in an established "currency" ( US dollar, GBP, Euro, C$, Aus$, gold, Swiss Francs or whatever.)
Nope. Haven't you heard? When fighting zombie economics, kill the currency, to kill the ghoul.
Patenting existing inventions is a business tactic designed to out-manoeuver a potential competitor. You then claim infringement, royalties, penalties, etc. and shut down your competitor. Although I'm sure the Morgue doesn't have anything else in its bag of tricks...
Shiiiit, that's half of Apple and Microsoft's business right there. The Great American Patent Fuck. It's a game of endless cash and prizes.
Lagarde chimes in.
The societies of Zerohedge community have it all wrong. We developed a virtual SDR currency alterative many years back. Please ponder our strong consideration with a sound banking solution.
Making Sense of SDRs
Kindly ignore Atomizer on our actual shortcomings with debt securities repayment. OECD hasn’t published the dreadful consolidation of numbers. We expect a better than expected report.
Really?
This surprises me. All evidence has been the USPTO is just a rubber stamp.
Yeah, I thought they were going to get this also.
JPM/GS = .GOV NSA = BITCOIN SAME/SAME No surprise just smoke and mirrors.
Oy vey!
His name was Francis Sawyer.
Bring back Mr Lennon Hendrix too.
JPM is a criminal organization. It has been a Rothschild front from the very beginning.
Furthermore, Jamie Dimon is a self-important fool. He is a Saruman to Lord Rothschild's Sauron. He thinks he's on the inside.
But he isn't.
Talk of the Rothschilds sends fellow ZH poster Mark McHugh into full retard fit. Wonder why? You are correct about JPM being Rothschild bank..
Anyone else mining altcoins here? I've spent the past week getting two machines up and running (much less straightforward than I thought it would be, given that all the software is open-source, free, buggy and generally lacks a GUI), and I'm happy to say that I'm now getting a total of around 700kh/s (with a decent WU, far more important than yer actual hashes, which not a lot of people seem to understand). It seems to be the golden age of cryptocurrencies right now, my favourite for entertainment value so far is Offerings to Cthulu, my favourites in terms of coins I think might still be around a year from today are Quark, Worldcoin, Mastercoin, as well as the obvious Bit/Litecoins.
I've posted this chart before, but it's worth a look, as to where Bitcoin might go, price-wise. Another good one here, in terms of how many people are using it.
I'd like to know more about what you're doing.
Preordered a Monarch here.
Remains to be seen if it can be made profitable imho.
Still looking into hardware accomodations for it... any suggestions?
Cheers.
I've read a few not so complimentary comments about Butterfly Labs on Bitcointalk so have a dig through there. I'm mining on GPUs rather than dedicated hardware, and given that I'm still just a week into mining, I'm far from an expert. My only real suggestion would be to pay serious attention to the Work Utility index given in CGMiner; I've seen loads of Block Erupters for sale claiming 330MH/s, but when you look at the WU, they're producing way less useful results than any modern graphics card. Everyone seems to obsess about how many hashes their hardware is producing, without realising that you can be generating loads of hashes but very few blocks. I'm getting 434 WU/minute on an HD7970, compared to the 13.8 WU/minute that the linked Block Erupter is producing, for example.
My mistake, it turns out the kh/s:WU ratio is different for SHA than it is for Scrypt. RingTFM helps :)
Oh man. Get a refund, buy bitcoins directly with it.
BFL = Bald Faced Liars.
This is coming from a miner with BFL equipment. I doubt you'll be profitable if BFL is running their usual scam.
If you pay for your own electricity, it's not profitable to mine BitCoins right now. Of course the same was true two years ago when I was mining while the price was US$3.00 per BTC, but holding those coins worked out well (sold around $150).
Every time a country like Argentina blows up their currency, BitCoin will spike up a little.
Happy mining!
This is true, but BTC isn't the only SHA coin out there. I've got my CPUs pointed at Quark :)
Seriously, downvoted for pointing out the cost of electricity? Are those two guys living with their parents?
I mine in the winter, because the CPUs help heat the house.
So what? Jamie can still start his own blockchain. Maybe the 1%ers are willing to set up ASIC rigs in their basements.
Obviously in their minds, fixing what's wrong with the dollar is out of the question.
154 + 20 = 175
#zerohedgemath
world financial system product technology intellectual property imitation: the most reliable indicator that your technology (aka BTC) is seen as A Serious Game Changer and/or Revolutionary Paradigm Shifting Danger to The Status Quo.
But don't fret for them, they, along with the rest of the Rothschild affiliates, have THE patent on fraud and theft.
An excerpt:
"A method to defraud all that deposit their wealth with us by way of counterfeit money loans wherein we retain claim to title of underlying collateral of said loans. And when our schemes fail, we force our puppets (pols and crats) to make us whole with stolen loot from the said same depositors while we maintain our claims to the underlying collateral..."
"Open source your guillotine."
I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people's efforts than 100% of my own efforts.
The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.
The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.
John D. Rockefeller
----------
Like Morgan gives a fuck about having a patent or not... he'll do it anyway.
JPM initial patent was in 1999.
"As discussed above, JPMorgan’s claims have not issued. (They need to be examined before they issue). However, what if the issued claims cover Bitcoin’s technology? That scenario could be a Bitcoin Killer."
http://inventingpatents.com/jpmorgan-bitcoin-killer-patent/
Who exactly are they going to sue?
No one, as there is no infringement. The '99 reference is BS in that it has nothing to do with Bitcoin. JPM is no Bitcoin killer. This is FUD to be ignored.
At this point, JP Morgue would be better off shorting their stock, wiping out their company and heading for the hills with the loot.
A big FU for the man with the presidential cuff links.
Jamie sounds like he's a little late to the party...
I’m trying to imagine what was going through the mind of the JPM manager who after the 174th application said, “I’m going to give it another go.”
Whatever the specifics, I’m sure it smacked of typical bankster arrogance. Obviously these people don’t like being told they can't do something.
Yes, it's despicable. Yet, the highest court of the land gives its blessings to patenting genes!!! Maybe people running the Patent Office should replace those useless scums at the Supreme Court.
JPM accused and accursed infringers-at-heart of Corporo-monopolism.
All Hail, Optionality.
JPM original file date was in 1999. Among other striking similarities, JPMs patent application uses the exact term "digital wallet." JPM could be Satoshi.
http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=...
"Digital wallet" is a very old term. Satoshi didn't invent it, neither did JPM.
An alternative currency is a nickel vs a dime, vs a quarter.
Bitcoin is an alternative to logic, in other worlds, it sucks ass.
What are you dweebs gonna do when a bitcoin is $ 100,000.00 each and an ounce of your preccccious yellow metal is $300 ?
Instead of creating dozens of copycat crypto currencies, I would really like to see someone use aspects of bitcoins to create an open source voting system. Imagine how much the lard ass politicians would hate that. No more need for democrats or republicans. Wanna go to war? Vote yes or no. Want to ban abortion? Yes or no.
If you missed this, it's well worth a read :)
http://invictus-innovations.com/innocence-is-no-excuse
On Saturday while driving across town, I saw a vendor selling throw rugs made out of cowhides at the corner of an intersection. Vendor had a sign that read "Bit Coin Accepted". I was surprised to see it show up in my town (well really a city with a population of ~300,000). Better to see that than "EBT Accepted". ;)
Good news