Bank Bailout Provision in Patent Bill Harms Inventors & Entrepreneurs, Allows Banks to Take Property Worth Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, says DataTreasury

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to debate a provision that will harm inventors and small business entrepreneurs by allowing the banking industry to infringe on valid patents worth hundreds of millions of dollars, said Claudio Ballard, an inventor and computer engineer. The provision is buried within the America Invents Act that purports to reform the patent process.

At the behest of the banking industry, the provision forces inventors of financially-related inventions into a process tailor-made by the banks to avoid paying for their infringing use of the inventions.  The provision even allows banks to harass inventors of patented technologies upheld as valid in court decisions and multiple administrative reviews.

"Once again the banks are positioned to get favorable treatment. Once again the banking lobby muscles its way into a bill that will push inventors and entrepreneurs to the back of the line while allowing the big banks to cut in front," said Ballard, co-founder of DataTreasury.

Ballard holds a patent that allows banks to process digital versions of checks and other financial instruments – a system used by banks of all sizes throughout the country. For years, the banking industry has tried to end run Ballard's patent, but he successfully fought them in court. Having lost in court, the banks have turned to Congress to once again bail them out.

Because the provision, known as Section 18, would undermine inventors' property rights in decades-old patents, several constitutional scholars and U.S. Congressman Dan Lungren, R-CA, a former Attorney General, have deemed it a violation of the "takings" clause in the Constitution.

"I had a big idea about removing paper from many aspects of American business, and replacing that paper with electronic images for faster and more cost-efficient business processing, Ballard said. "This provision would allow my idea and other big ideas to be stolen, harming not just inventors but the American consumer as well."

Contact: Karen Hinton, [email protected], 703-798-3109

SOURCE DataTreasury