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The Biz-Method Patent Rush

http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com/stories/A17126-2000Feb25.html

The Biz-Method Patent Rush

Some critics fret as companies seek to dominate Net trade

By Victoria Slind-Flor

The National Law Journal

February 28, 2000

A patent expected to issue shortly may give a San Francisco-based financial services company control over a large chunk of Internet commerce.

A recent NextCard Inc. press release announced that the company has received a "notice of allowances" from the Patent Office on an application for issuance of online credit. Typically, such notices are precursors to patent issuance. The company quickly claimed on its Web site that such patents awarded to Internet companies "offer a 12 to 24 month competitive advantage."

Meanwhile, a Toronto-based marketing firm has applied for a patent on a method of "viral marketing," by which Internet users become participants in corporate marketing. The best example is HotMail, an e-mail service that grew to 12 million users spending less than $500,000 on marketing.

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