The "Patent Wars" have been raging in the banking industry the past few years.

But when you think about it, it’s really been more of a guerilla war, pitting a small company against the giants of the industry. DataTreasury, which has filed a series of suits alleging infringement of its patents that cover processing digital checks, has won some massive cases, notable against Bank of America. More often than not, they end up settling. DataTreasury settled after its victory in court with Bank of America and just last month it settled with U.S. Bank, with the terms undisclosed.

The success of Texas-based DataTreasury was no doubt frustrating for banks, which ended up lobbying hard for relief at the legislative level. They wanted reforms of so-called business method patents, which have long caused controversy, more than even software and biotech patents in some cases. Business method patents have often been criticized for covering processes that are anything but novel and unique. In the shadow of Dodd-Frank and various credit card reform measures, the industry’s efforts may have paid off. The America Invents Act was signed into law in September.

As a commentary from Shumaker Williams makes clear, Section 18 could have a significant impact on financial services company, to the detriment of DataTreasury and other patent holders pressing ahead with similar suits.

Section 18 “creates a post-grant review procedure within the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for certain business method patents, known as ‘Transitional Review.’ The Transitional Review is intended for ‘post-grant’ review of patents, which means it provides a tool for banks that have been sued in a patent infringement lawsuit to challenge the patent alleged by the plaintiff to have been infringed.”

In addition, “covered business method patents” are defines as “a patent that claims a method or corresponding apparatus for performing data processing or other operations used in the practice, administration, or management of a financial product or service.”  Therefore, the new review process “only focuses on business method patents that relate to the financial services industry."

In some ways, this legislation seems tailor-made to confront DataTreasury, which is surely chafing. But could there be some unintended consequences? For one thing, it just might make it harder for banks to press their own patent cases, allowing targets to challenge their patents. That’s a price banks are willing to pay for relief on business method patents, in any case. -Jim