Money transfer giant Western Union is seeking a patent for a transaction analysis system that could be applied to digital currencies like bitcoin.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) published Western Union’s patent application for methods and systems related to “multi-network transaction analysis” on 16th March.

The system, according to the description, is applicable to the realm of cryptocurrencies. Rather, it’s a broader effort to develop a means to analyze “location-based transaction system”, one that could be adjusted to incorporate transactions involving bitcoin or other digital currencies. Bitcoin itself is named once in the application, along with litecoin and peercoin.

Its submission is perhaps unsurprising, given Western Union’s prior interest in patents related to the tech and its partnership with distributed ledger startup Ripple, first unveiled in April 2015..

Money transfer giant Western Union is seeking a patent for a transaction analysis system that could be applied to digital currencies like bitcoin.

It’s a broader effort to develop a means to analyze “location-based transaction systems. One that could be adjusted to incorporate transactions involving bitcoin or other digital currencies. Bitcoin itself is named once in the application, along with litecoin and peercoin.

The application states:

“In various embodiments, electronic data transfer network may be configured to support and perform transfers of various currency types, including traditional and/or digital currencies, centralized and/or de-centralized currencies, cryptocurrencies, and any other medium of exchange…between client devices and/or external systems in different areas, regions, or jurisdictions.”

Western Union Gets a Patent on an Exchange for ‘Alternative Currencies’

USPTO isn’t supposed to be granting patents on “abstract ideas” like escrow services or payment settlements? So it appears that on April 1st of this year, the US Patent Office granted Western Union a patent on an exchange for “alternative currencies.” The patent (8,688,563) is technically for “Alternative value exchange systems and methods.” And while it was filed in October 2009 — nearly a year after the original Bitcoin paper — it was before people were really talking about Bitcoin.

Western Union’s Patent

There are many different types of alternative currencies. Each currency representing what the community holds valuable (e.g. time, labor/skill, goods/services, etc.). Alternative currencies currently in use include: “LindenDollars”—Second Life; Amazon.com’s “Quest Gold”; World of Warcraft’s (WoW) virtual “Gold”; Ithaca Hours (Ithaca, N.Y.); Carbon credits; regional currencies in Germany; “Dotz” (Brazil); Tradebank “Credits” (Construction-centric barter network); “Lassobucks” (Time/Skillset currency); Maha Vitaran—Indian power utility barters with other utilities for power; “Bartercard”—Loaded with goods & services (not cash), used in exchange for other goods & services. Many others are planned or currently in development.

If you read the actual claims of the patent, they’re basically describing the same abstract idea of any currency exchange platform -having people offer to exchange currency, determining the values of the different currencies, and determining at what “price” to do the exchange.

It’s unclear exactly what Western Union will do with the patent – the company itself has mocked Bitcoin – but it does remind us that there’s likely to be a growing number of patent battles in the Bitcoin space before too long. eBay has also received some attention for seeking a patent on a Bitcoin currency exchanger – but that’s still an application that has yet to be approved. Still, there are a lot of others rushing in to patent aspects of Bitcoin.

On the first of April of this year, the US Patent Office granted Western Union a patent on an exchange for “alternative currencies.” The patent (8,688,563) is technically for “Alternative value exchange systems and methods.” And while it was filed in October 2009 — nearly a year after the original Bitcoin paper — it was before people were really talking about Bitcoin.

Companies are Driven by Profit

The fact that Western Union has been granted a patent does serve to remind us that companies, even those that have mocked us, are governed by profit, and don’t want to miss the next big opportunity. Here, however, may lie the difficulty:  exchanging one form of currency for another is not a new idea. In fact, it’s a very, very old idea.

It’s unclear exactly what Western Union will do with the patent — the company itself has mocked Bitcoin — but it does remind us that there’s likely to be a growing number of patent battles in the Bitcoin space before too long. eBay has also received some attention for seeking a patent on a Bitcoin currency exchanger — but that’s still an application that has yet to be approved.