Pay attention and you can find patents in all kinds of interesting places.  We’ve noticed, for example, that almost every fast food franchise has a patent or patent application pending on their box or coffee cup.  When you’re through eating turn it over and take a look.

However, you can even find patents (or applications) in the every day financial services businesses.  We got a credit card offer a few weeks ago from Capitol One.  It was, by the way, in an ominous envelope that warned us not to bend, fold, or staple it.  It’s a good thing we didn’t throw it away because, if you took the time to read it, you’d find some interesting fine print.
 

The selling point of the card offered was that one could earn miles on any airline.  The fine print described how the mileage redemption worked.  The apparently unique feature was the fact that the miles required for travel redemption is variable.  As the fine print states: “ The number of miles required by the Cardholder for travel redemption is variable, and will depend on the cost of the itinerary chosen …  The Miles Required for Ticket Redemption will equal the Lowest Available Published Fare (LAPF) … multiplied by 80.”  Then it said: “This unique methodology is proprietary to Capital One and the subject of pending patent rights.” 

A recent check shows that Capital One Financial Corporation has 13 patents issued and 30 published patent applications on which it is the Assignee.  We couldn’t find this application among the published applications so one can reasonably assume there is, at least, one unpublished application pending.     

While this is in the broader category of financial services, it points out how pervasive we might expect patents to become in the insurance industry.  The bottom line is that it pays to pay attention.  In a business environment in which intellectual property is becoming more likely than not to be protected with a patent, you may discover to your chagrin that your unique new approach is not as new as you thought.