Software and biotech--and increasingly financial services--companies know what the patent wars are all about. Increasingly, in this era of low-cost production, the higher-level value add in any business boils down to the intangibles, the knowledge. So you have to patent the hell out of everything you do. And when it comes time to really go to war with another company, you search your patents and sue your competitor for all kinds of infringement, real or not. IBM was known for this. Banks these days have no choice but to play that game (as they should). Some will argue this is a gross misapplication of the patent system, and that processes should not be patented. These are old questions to be sure. But banks really don't have a say. There is too much at stake in terms of royalties and competitive advantage.   

For more:
- here's an article [1] from Bank Systems & Technology

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