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Bank Systems & Technology: The Blog

« November 2006 | Main | January 2007 »

By Art Gillis

And I’m starting with this one. That’s it.

By Art Gillis

Haynes and Boone, a prominent Dallas law firm, invites me to their free knowledge-transfer presentations. I don’t go to all of them, but this time, when I saw the subject, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), I signed up.

What an enriching experience it was. I’ll begin with the start time - 7 a.m. I was back at my office by 9:15 and didn’t skip a beat in my day’s work. There were 83 other folks there. Forgive me, but I’m the quintessential numbers guy. I counted them.

With absolute precision, the man in charge kicked it off. A panel of six experts (three lawyers, two venture capital specialists and Nortel Networks’ in-house counsel) told me so many things I needed to know, that I wanted to leave a donation when it was all over. Instead, I sent another check to the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center so my conscience wouldn’t bother me.

If you’re an expert on IPR, you won’t need what this rookie learned. But if you’re in my camp, read on. Rather than my trying to tell you what six experts said, I’ll tell you what an informed audience asked the panel. There were nine questions, but more followed after the bell:

1. Where does Business Process fit into IP?
Answer: It is recognized as patentable, as well as “copyrightable,” so know that patents do not just apply to a physical product. Technology is defined in the broadest sense: anything that is new.

2. Banks are beginning to collateralize IP in making loans to the owner. Is it real?
Answer: Don’t count on it from banks. In the past three years, lenders have entered into this space, but only after the VC investors took the greatest risk. And lenders are not your traditional banks. They are individuals.

3. How does one defend a patent, or fight a patent infringement?
Answer: Any startup should get a patent from Day One, even though it’s not easy and it is costly. Keep in mind that future investors do not want to pay for litigation, so do the legal work up front even though it hurts.

4. Europe has a “fast track process” for getting a patent. Does it work?
Answer: Yes, and it’s a good idea for any owner of an invention who needs to start using it immediately to get his business going.

5. What obstacles will one face in a global economy where laws vary from country to country?
Answer: Be patient, cross-country laws for worldwide protection are becoming more common.

6. How does one get a greater return on his product through the patent process?
Answer: By licensing his invention to partners and achieving business value, not just money.

7. How do I protect myself against a lender who calls the loan and takes my IP?
Answer: Most lenders don’t want the product because they wouldn’t know what to do with it. But the wording of the patent process should protect the owner. The tough answer is don’t breach the loan agreement.

8. Should we worry about China’s laws as we enter into the growth dynamics of their business environment?
Answer: China’s laws look like those of the U.S. But enforcement is different. Laughter in the audience suggested another answer - You’re damn right you should worry.

9. What value does an IP portfolio have?
Answer: Even if you don’t build the products and you license the products, it’s still a good thing to do. The patent process is expensive, but it can be worth it if you know that your business strategy depends on your invention.

What I learned from this investment of 120 minutes: I always thought one had to be a Thomas Edison or engineer to own a patent. I’m neither, but that day I found out I have three patentable products that I use in my consulting practice. A patent costs about $35k, so now I have to figure out if there is a business value for my inventions. With more consultants entering the business worldwide, there should be a market, but I’m not including my inventions on my corporate balance sheet just yet. And it doesn’t help to know that in 1971 the creator of the “Swoosh” was paid 70 bucks for what Nike made billions with.

IPR is something every owner of a new creation should be tuned into, but in my opinion, the right of ownership is like anything else in life. Now that you’ve got it, what are you going to do with it?

Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer, nor do I try to act like one. And I have never told a lawyer joke in my life probably because the 22 law firms I have worked for, as an expert witness in my specialty, have been so impressive that I wouldn’t make a risky move these days without the involvement of a lawyer. In case you’re looking for a hidden endorsement in this blog, I can assure you I have never met, face-to-face, an attorney from Haynes and Boone.

By Art Gillis

I’ve been hearing that excuse less and less each year. In 1960 I used to say it to our customers, which included General Motors, Met Life, Delco Remy, National Institutes of Health, Army Map Service and some other biggies. What made it tough for me was I was in charge of software releases for a major mainframe (was there any other kind then?) company. Hardware was the only thing we sold. Software was a giveaway. But nothing would run without the software and I couldn’t release the software until it was tested. And I needed a working computer to test it. I apologized a lot. And I worked the graveyard shift a lot because I could scrounge time on any Honeywell 800 computer I could find in the Boston area. Fortunately I was single at the time and no one was looking for me at 3 a.m.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any girl friends at the time because decent girls were usually at work at 3 p.m. when I would gain consciousness. I was the ultimate nerd before the word was even invented.
Over the years, I had experienced so many disappointing events in the implementation of IT projects, that in 1992 I wrote a little book about 43 of them. The title was, "Sorry, Our Computers Are Down.”

Here’s just one example: The FDA hired us (a major consulting firm) to develop an information system that would better use the resources of food inspectors in the field. It was in vogue then to budget according to program goals. As it was explained to me by the FDA, if rat terds in bread are sterilized during the baking process, why should our inspectors waste their time looking for rat terds? I stopped eating bread after that and now enjoy a 34-inch waist line. We built the specs for that system in 1969 and charged the FDA $1 million. Right after that, the Nixon Administration came to power. A new FDA Commissioner took over and proclaimed our system as impractical. Nineteen volumes of systems specs were trashed, and if you paid taxes in 1970, you have a right to bitch to your Congressman for waste in the Federal Government. For all my Republican friends, take comfort in the fact that change can be good. A Democratic Congress may just be the solution to solving a stupid decision to go to war in Iraq.

These days, reliability of technology is a lot better. For example, I heard the excuse this morning from a company that couldn’t schedule my semi-annual heating system maintenance. No problem, it was only about the fifth time I heard the excuse from a variety of service companies all year.

For a world that now relies on real-time action, the bad news is that 99.999999 up time just ain’t good enough.

BS&T recently had an opportunity to talk with Kostas Konstantinides, Director of Client Web Services for Trading and Securities at Schwab.com Our conversation focused on the proactive steps Schwab.com is taking to protect its customers from fraud and identity theft. This Podcast is sponsored by VeriSign.

By Art Gillis

Intuit and Microsoft have always had a taste for banking, but somehow they were missing the nuance and culture that are so important in banking. Bill Gates called bankers dinosaurs, not the ideal way to break into a club. Intuit knew how to keep the books, but it didn’t know a deposit from a loan. Now Intuit solved its problem by acquiring a banking company, one that does banking the future way, electronically, not the old way, “paperbound.” What struck me was the enormous initiation fee to get in. While the current price paid for a bank tech company has averaged 2.13 times revenue, Intuit paid Digital Insight shareholders a whopping 6.3 times revenue. Maybe Intuit knows something the rest of us don’t. And I certainly missed the predication in last week’s blog. I talked about the generics and came close with Microsoft, but I missed Intuit entirely. Automation in Banking - 2006 lists 19 Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment solutions. Maybe Microsoft will shoot high and go after CheckFree.

Blogger’s note: Automation in Banking - 2006 includes 81 bank tech companies (250 solutions). But Microsoft and Intuit are not included despite repeated invitations to appear. I always felt there was a connection between bookkeeping software and banking systems, and I’m happy that Intuit confirmed I got at least one thing right.

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