The advantage of the system is that the customer does not have to enter and re-enter information. My gut tells me this will go nowhere. A court decision last year held that a business process could be patented and this helped push back the already wide barriers of what can be patented. The US's wide interpretation of what can be patented has led to a flood of applications, many from Internet companies. Given that it takes two or three years for a claim to be processed, many internet companies have only just received their piece of paper.
Sceptics still question the validity of many of the patents granted.
The US patent office has even been known to withdraw a patent it granted for software which was widely in use. In September, Microsoft launched a service that allowed customers to name their price for hotel rooms. Fear exists that this case could change forever the entrepreneurial spirit that characterises the web. Many fear that the onset of the lawyers will spell the end for e-commerce as we know it. A company that has a patent has a few options when it comes to making cash.