Patently challenging

Financial products have long been marginalised in the intellectual property world, and providers have sought to distinguish themselves on being the first with their innovations. While it is getting harder for financial products to win patents, as ETFs make increasing headway in this world, should providers be reconsidering how to protect their ideas?

In 1980, Merrill Lynch struck upon a new idea that allowed its retail banking customers to undertake all their activity from one account, be it trading shares, depositing cash or using a debit card. The result was a securities brokerage account, which the bank called a cash management account – a familiar tool in many retail investors’ portfolios today. Less well known is that two years after filing its application, Merrill obtained a US patent for the concept. The various versions of the