Poster Child

It's been a long time since we've seen one like this.

U.S. Patent No. 7,818,225 Financial instrument and related business method Assignee: Excel Ventures LLC, Schenectady, NY Issued: October 19, 2010 1. A financial instrument of an entity, said financial instrument comprising: a conventional investment instrument; a penalty feature added to the conventional investment instrument; and a dividend feature added to the conventional investment instrument, said penalty feature characterized by a penalty assessed against a holder of at least one share of the financial instrument who sells the at least one share on a date of sale that precedes an extinguish date associated with the financial instrument, said dividend feature characterized by a dividend adapted to be distributed, on a date subsequent to the date of sale, to all Holders of Record of the financial instrument on the date of sale, said dividend being derived from said penalty, said financial instrument adapted to be acquired by a plurality of investors.

Commentary: Not sure there's much to say, other than that this claim was rejected under Bilski in November 2009. Here's the argument that won over the Examiner:

"Applicants respectfully contend that the machine-or-transformation test set forth by the Federal Circuit in In re Bilski applies only to method claims and thus not to claims 1-20 which are not drawn to a method."

The Examiner then allowed the claim on June 14, 2010 -- two weeks before the Supreme Court reaffirmed "the unpatentability of abstract ideas."

Perhaps this is the financial "instrument" that is to be used to "physically transform" the "lumpy cash flows" in U.S. Patent No. 7,451,104.