TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lerner,Josh
TI  - Where Does State Street Lead? A First Look at Finance Patents, 1971-2000
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7918
PY  - 2000
Y2  - September 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7918
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7918.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Josh Lerner
Harvard Business School
Rock Center 214
Boston, MA 02163
Tel: 617/495-6065
Fax: 617/496-7357
E-Mail: jlerner@hbs.edu
AB  - This paper empirically examines patents for financial formulas and methods, whose patentability was recently confirmed in the litigation between State Street Bank and Trust and Signature Financial Group. The number of such filings and awards has been accelerating.  Patent filings by academics have been very infrequent, which appears to be a consequence of a lack of awareness or interest on the part of faculty members, rather than any fundamental unsuitability of their research for patenting. The failure to cite academic research in this area appears to be problematic and may reflect patent examiners' limited exposure to finance research and patents.  The final section discusses the challenges that these developments pose to academic finance.
ER  -