GB2444595A - Investment opportunity asset - Google Patents

Abstract

An asset is represented by an online display of units, or by a tangible certificate, or by other sensory display for the purposes of an online or other market trading. The quoted price of the asset tracks the value of a corresponding variable on an equity, or other exchange or collection/grouping of predictable or guessable variables e.g. variables in a commodity market, bond market, currency market, derivatives market, debt or credit market, UK FTSE 100, first sold for actual money to investors. Thus, the capital gains and trade profits feature of the asset/instrument is achieved without there being an underlying equity, currency or other external/historical value. The constructed asset may possess further characteristics relating to mimicking dividends or mimicking payout on insolvency or mimicking other benefits or value. The Investment Opportunity Asset (IOA) provides small-medium retail investors with cost effective trading.

Description

Description:

Title: Investment Opportunity Asset (IOA)

Background:

When people consider the possibility of investing upon the financial markets they are presented with and often put off by many layers of difficulty in actually doing so. The problems range from financial factors, such as the amount of commission that has to be paid even to execution only brokers, minimum spends and hidden charges; to practical factors, such as how one goes about starting to invest, what market one invests upon, financial derivatives, and the confusing terminology employed. In short, for the general public, investing on existing financial markets is a far more difficult process than it need be. The shame of this is that far too many people are prevented from increasing or more efficiently storing any capital they might have available, opportunities that should be available to all.

Many of the difficulties arise by virtue of the fact that equity in a company, or real currency must be located and traded -that what we may term external-value' or sometimes more appropriately historical value' must be traded. Ancillary products like Contracts for a Difference (as defined in FSMA 2000) provide external-value through personal executory obligations/rights as parties promise to pay/secure agreed amounts of monies per fluctuation in price points or other factors.

Up till now tradeable external-value has been considered necessary to provide financial trading. This is not true. It is possible to build a unique new financial asset without external-value. By doing so, one can approach investment from the customers' point of view, rather than from the starting point of corporate finance or compensation for obligation. Cost savings can be made, discounts can be offered and complications reduced The opportunities will be more accessible, and each and every individual will enjoy easy, total control of their investment.

Statement of Invention:

(A) in the statement of invention below, is a new, non obvious and unique asset.

(B) is the description of a dependant invention, different because it has additional or alternative technical features.

From the start we should note that (A) and (B) are inventions that exist beyond their starting subject matter, in the same way that a unique electronic flower pot stand exists beyond the common or excluded materials from which it was built, or in the same way that the practice of sawing wood or welding metal may construct the technical feature of a new invention but does not exclude the invention from patentability. In fact with (A) and (B), the actual contribution beyond the starting subject matter is two-fold. firstly the technical characteristics of the asset are contributed, and secondly it is by contributing the technical characteristics that a substantive asset, albeit largely intangible, comes into existence 1 Actual Contribution 2 Actual Contribution Starting Subject Matter -* Asset Characteristic -* Substantive Asset (Even if the process is temporally simultaneous, it can be conceptualized as construction of an invention not just one-step beyond the subject matter but two-steps beyond the subject matter. Although this statement of invention has been articulated in conformance with the two stage analysis it does not actually affect the ambit of the patent -what it does do is clearly explain that an actual technical contribution has been made that results in a financial asset possessing asset characteristics beyond any possible excluded starting subject matter.) (A) Starting Subject Matter: -A sensory display -a visible online unit, and or tangible certificate/unit -that indicates/refers to a base variable on an equity, or other exchange, or otherwise unrelated collection/grouping of predictable variables (for the first practical application a base asset on the UK FTSE 100 is indicated) but does not give, indicate or represent a personal right or property right in that base equity component or variable (no external-value).

-An exchange/market, online or otherwise, made available to investors, to buy and sell the sensory units from and to each other e.g. an order driven peer to peer exchange or to trigger provision by the market provider of a unit equivalent to the first unit and termination of the first/any already provided unit by providing the owner of the first/any already provided unit with monies.

-A quoted market price (published recommended value) of the sensory unit, from the start of its life, is attached to or tracks the price precisely of the indicated corresponding variable on an equity, or other exchange, or otherwise unrelated collection/grouping of predictable variables (for the first practical application of the invention this will be achieved using a live data feed from the UK ElSE 100 to provide the quoted price for each unit corresponding to a designated base share type in the UK FTSE 100).

Constructed by sensory display indicating a base variable with no external-value; market provision; and price/value tracking of the indicated corresponding base variable -a mere unit of sensory display becomes a unique financial asset possessing unique technical characteristics: The Actual Contribution: 1. The unique asset characteristic is the potential for trade profits from price/capital fluctuations that proportionally or precisely track/mimic a base share or other variable, without external-value.

2. The ultimate actual contribution is a unique, base share or other variable mimicking, substantive financial asset.

In line with Aerotel / Macrossan cases, the actual contnbution lies in more than just excluded subject matter The contributions might be constructed using excluded subject matter -business practice, computer software, rules of a game but this subject matter is used to construct a technical characteristic which brings into existence a unique technical asset. To use examples published by the UK Patent Office "whilst novel software may well be a crucial element of the advance, that does not necessarily means the advance resides in the software alone" e g the base variable pnce tracking might be done by way of computer program or business practice -even decisions taken and issued by a little man operating at a control panel -but this subject matter is unimportant as the technical contribution made is the unique asset characteristic and in turn the unique asset is brought into existence. Consistently, in the Macrossan case it was held that the presence of conventional hardware elements in the claim did not change the contribution. The law is absolutely clear-the invention of a new economic asset is not one of the "positive categories of things which are not to be regarded as invent ions".

NB. In the Patents Act 1977 intangibility or the economic nature of the characteristic or the asset itself is no bar to patentability (indeed economic characteristics are the only pertinent characteristics an asset invented solely for economic use can exhibit), while to argue there is nothing beyond the starting subject matter is to attempt argue that there is only a nominal sensoiy display -a proposition that is completely in correct and totally untenable in today's day and age. If one accepts in theory the financial viability of the new asset then itis axiomatic as a matter of substance that there is a new asset and an actual contribution / advance in the art beyond the subject matter The asset offers the public unique benefits including minimal commission, complete control and optimum divisibility (a diverse portfolio might be held for less than the necessary minimum spend on existing markets on a single company's equity shares); is educational, being particularly useful for business or economics students at University level; that benefits existing markets; and is good for the economy as a whole The teleology behind the UK Patents Act, the European Patent Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty is to provide protection for such an invention to provide an incentive for its successful production so that benefits can be passed on to the public at large. This invention benefits all and is particularly vulnerable to being completely undermined by copies especially in early production. This policy argument strongly backs up the technical points of the application.

The advances in the art/technical features are also new and not obvious Demonstrably not obvious as the financial sector and related academics have failed to produce such advances in the art/technical features; susceptible to industrial application as there is invented a new asset/instrument for trade (B) Starting Subject Matter: -A sensory display -a visible online unit, and or tangible certificate/unit -that indicates/refers to a base variable on an equity, or other exchange, or otherwise unrelated collection/grouping of predictable variables (for the first practical application a base asset on the UK ElSE 100 is indicated) but does not give, indicate or represent a personal right or property right in that base equity component or variable (no external-value).

-An exchange/market, online or otherwise, made available to investors, to buy and sell the sensory units from and to each other e.g. an order driven peer to peer exchange or to trigger provision by the market provider of a unit equivalent to the first unit and termination of the first/any already provided unit by providing the owner of the firstlany already provided unit with monies.

-A quoted market price (published recommended value) of the sensory unit, from the start of its life, is attached to or tracks the price precisely of the indicated corresponding variable on an equity, or other exchange, or otherwise unrelated collection/grouping of predictable variables (for the first practical application of the invention this will be achieved using a live data feed from the UK FTSE 100 to provide the quoted price for each unit corresponding to a designated base share type in the UK FTSE 100).

And/or Monies, equal to the dividends paid out by the corresponding base share/variable to its beneficial owners, are paid to the beneficial owners of the IOA asset And/or Monies, equal to the payment on insolvency paid out by the corresponding base share/variable to its beneficial owners, are paid to the beneficial owners of the lOA asset.

And/or Monies or benefits, equal to any other value payout or benefits made available or paid by the corresponding base share/variable to its beneficial owners, are paid or made available to the beneficial owners of the lOA asset.

Constructed by sensory display indicating a base variable with no external-value; market provision; and price/value tracking and/or dividends/income tracking and/or insolvency tracking and/or other value/benefits tracking of the indicated corresponding base variable -a mere unit of sensory display becomes a unique financial asset possessing unique technical characteristics: The Actual Contribution: 1. The unique asset characteristics are: The potential for trade profits from price/capital fluctuations that precisely track/mimic a base share or other variable, without external-value.

And/or Income monies that precisely track/mimic dividends of a base share or other variable, without external-value.

And/or Capital monies that precisely track/mimic insolvency payout of a base share or other variable, without external-value.

And/or Capital and/or income monies and/or other benefits that precisely track/mimic other benefit or value of a base share or other variable, without external-value 2. The ultimate actual contribution is a unique, base share or other variable mimicking, substantive financial asset.

In line with Aerofel / Macrossan cases, the actual contribution lies in more than just excluded subject matter The contributions might be constructed using excluded subject matter -business practice, computer software, rules of a game but this subject matter is used to construct a technical characteristic which brings into existence a unique technical asset. To use examples published by the UK Patent Office "whilst novel software may well be a crucial element of the advance, that does not necessarily means the advance resides in the software alone" e.g. the base variable price tracking might be done by way of computer program or business practice -even decisions taken and issued by a little man operating at a control panel -but this subject matter is unimportant as the technical contribution made is the unique asset characteristic and in turn the unique asset is brought into existence. Consistently, in the Macrossan case it was held that the presence of conventional hardware elements in the claim did not change the contribution The law is absolutely clear-the invention of a new economic asset is not one of the "positive categories of things which are not to be regarded as inventions".

N.B. In the Patents Act 1977 intangibility or the economic nature of the characteristic or the asset itself is no bar to patentability (indeed economic characteristics are the only pertinent charactenstics an asset invented solely for economic use can exhibit), while to argue there is nothing beyond the starting subject matter is to attempt argue that there is only a nominal sensory display -a proposition that is completely incorrect and totally untenable in today's day and age. If one accepts in theory the financial viability of the new asset then it is axiomatic as a matter of substance that there is a new asset and an actual contribution ladvance in the art beyond the subject matter.

The asset offers the pub/ic unique benefits including: minimal commission, complete control and optimum divisibility (a diverse portfolio might be held for less than the necessary minimum spend on existing markets on a single company's equity shares); is educational, being particularly useful for business or economics students at University level; that benefits existing markets; and is good for the economy as a whole. The teleology behind the UK Patents Act, the European Patent Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty is to provide protection for such an invention to provide an incentive for its successful production so that benefits can be passed on to the public at large This invention benefits all and is particularly vulnerable to being completely undermined by copies especially in early production. This policy argument strongly backs up the technical points of the application.

The advances in the are/technical features are also new and not obvious Demonstrably not obvious as the financial sector and related academics have failed to produce such advances in the art/technical features; susceptible to industrial application as there is invented a new asset/instrument for trade.

Advantages: The first production of lOAs wifi be to create a market that is mimics the FTSE 100. lOAs will maximize benefits and reduce costs. The aim is to provide normal people (small-medium retail investors) with an improved investment opportunity than the one tailored towards their corporate counterparts. Unlike ancillary financial derivatives such as Spread-betting and CFDs where risk is encouraged through leveraged obligations and there is a high incidence of problem trading, the new asset allows optimum divisibility and participation at whatever level people are comfortable with, naturally lending itself as an educational tool.

In short it is an invention that makes the financial world more accessible, hands control to the investor and makes trading cheaper. What follows is a list of some of the benefits envisaged thus far: 1) Cost: This is perhaps the biggest advantage. With an IOA the most possible money does not have to be raised for public companies, discounts (on quoted share price) can be offered at any time. This means with lOAs similar investment opportunities are available as on the real ElSE 100 but at a significantly cheaper price. It should be obvious that this represents a superb, unique opportunity for customers.

2) Optimum Divisibility: When purchasing shares on the London Stock Exchange often large blocks have to be purchased at any one time (e.g.100 shares), whereas individual lOAs can be produced, bought and sold. This means investors could hold whole portfolios of lOAs equal to what might be a minimum holding of some shares on the FSTE 100 No minimum share purchase makes the market much more accessible and allows easier risk minimisation through diversity.

3) Control: The lOAs hand direct control to the trader. There is no need to set up a selling and buying process so reliant on intermediaries.

Individuals will be involved directly.

4) Access: Creating the beneficial asset online allows greater access, around the clock and on a footloose basis.

5) Education: As well as exercising numeracy and other intellectual abilities lOAs buying and selling lOAs can be used to gain a practical education in financial trading, at whatever level an investor is comfortable with. In conjunction with supporting educational services this will increase people's understanding of this ever more important aspect of our society.

All of these advantages hinge upon the invention. Patenting the invention will prevent it being undermined by copies that ruin its perception and credibility, that would result in the general public losing out. Patenting the invention allows the inventors to ensure that lOAs are produced and made available in line with the philosophy of their creation: providing the highest benefits and the lowest costs to the small retail investor'; without a patent the invention is likely to be hijacked and its benefits destroyed through dilution or manipulation of the invention.

Claims (21)

1. Claims: 1.

   An online unit/s or tangible unit/s or other sensory display unit's without external-value, available on an online market/exchange provided or maintained or administered by the provider of the sensory display unit or inventor or relevant third party, the quoted/published guide price of buying and selling the sensory display unit on the market/exchange tracks the price precisely of a corresponding component on any, otherwise unrelated, equity exchange/market, contributing the characteristic of the potential for trade profits from price/capital fluctuations that precisely track/mimic a base equity component, without external-value, contributing a unique, base equity component or other variable mimicking, substantive financial asset.

   (for all claims: where possible "or" means "and/or"; where any part of a claim is not possible but is segregable (likely to be indicated by an "or") then the claim shall be read so that the claim is possible with that segregabte part removed; any duplication in terms of phrasing requires one of the duplicated elements to be ignored so that the sufficient set is read appropriately; "actual money" means a recognized currency that represents an exchangeable store of value; "unrelated" means that in an economic sense there is no relationship -normally explainable by economic theory, normally in terms of cause and effect, as with a future and its equity, as with an equity and its company, as opposed to a more general or holistic economic relationship, "external-value" means entitlement or representing entitlement or indicating entitlement to any property right or personal right in that base equity component or variable; "inventor"/"inventors", "party"/"parties", "provider"/'providers", "varia ble"/"variables", "score"/"scores", "marketimarkets", "excha nge"/"exchanges", "g rouping"/"groupings", "class" /"classes", "collection"/"collections" all bear both the singular and plural meaning).
2. 2.

   An online unit's or tangible unit's or other sensory display unit/s without external-value, given or awarded for use on an online market/exchange provided or maintained or administered by the provider of the sensory display unit or seller or inventor or relevant third party, the quoted/published guide price of buying and selling on the market/exchange tracks the price precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, equity exchange/market, contributing the characteristic of the potential for trade profits from price/capital fluctuations that precisely track/mimic a base equity component, without external-value, contributing a unique, base equity component or other variable mimicking, substantive financial asset.
3. 3. An online unit/s or tangible unit/s or other sensory display unit/s without external-value sold for actual money or money's worth on an online market/exchange provided or maintained or administered by the provider of the sensory display unit or seller or inventor or relevant third party, the quoted/published guide price of buying and selling on the market/exchange tracks the price precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, equity exchange/market, contributing the characteristic of the potential for trade profits from price/capital fluctuations that precisely tracklmimic a base equity component, without external-value, contributing a unique, base equity component or other variable mimicking, substantive financial asset.
4. 4.

   An asset according to claim I or 2 or 3 except that, the market/exchange provided or maintained or administered by the provider of the sensory display unit or inventor or relevant party is an online or offline facility for investors to buy and sell the sensory units from and to each other or to trigger provision by the market provider/maintainer/administrar of a unit equivalent to the first unit and termination of the first/any already provided unit by providing the owner of the first/any already provided unit with monies.
5. 5.

   An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, derivatives exchange/market.
6. 6.

   An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, commodity exchange/market.
7. 7.

   An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, currency exchange/market.
8. 8.

   An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, bond exchange/market.
9. 9.

   An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, debt or credit exchangelmarket.
10. 10.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, personal obligation exchange/market or property obligation exchange/market or financial exchange/market.
11. 11.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding component or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, other exchange/market.
12. 12.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding variable or variable on any, otherwise unrelated, other collection/class/grouping of predictable variables.
13. 13.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding variable on any, otherwise unrelated, other collection/class/grouping of guessable variables.
14. 14.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of a corresponding variable on any, otherwise unrelated, collection/class/grouping of predictable or guessable scores.
15. 15.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of any, otherwise unrelated, corresponding component or variable on the London Stock Exchange.
16. 16.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely of any, otherwise unrelated, corresponding component or variable on any of the following stock exchanges, New York Stock Exchange, Tokyo Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange, Euronext, Toronto Stock Exchange, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Madrid Stock Exchange, SWX Swiss Exchange, Milan Stock Exchange, Australian Stock Exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Johannesburg Securities Exchange, Bovespa.
17. 17.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 except that, the quoted price tracks the price or value precisely or conditioned by one or more corresponding variables, on one or more, otherwise unrelated, exchanges/markets, or one or more, otherwise unrelated, predictable variables, or one or more, otherwise unrelated, guessable variables, or one or more, otherwise unrelated, predictable or guessable scores, or one or more exchanges/markets mentioned in any of the claims 1 or2 or 3 or4 or 5 or6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 100111 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15 or 16.
18. 18.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or3 or 4 or5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 or 11 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 1501 160117 except that, the price tracking is precise or close or proportional.
19. 19.

    An asset according to claim 1 012 or 3 or 4 or 5 016 or 7 or 8 or9 or 10 or 11 or 12 or l3or 140115 or 16 or 17 or 18 in addition to or instead of price tracking, the asset entitles the owners to receive -payout (in monies or monies worth or in other benefits) precisely the same as dividends or payout close to the dividends paid out by the corresponding base asset/s or variable/s company to its shareholders (if any) -from the inventors or market provider/maintainer/administrar or relevant third party or provider of sensory display unit, contributing the additional or alternative characteristic of income monies that track/mimic dividends of a base share or other variable, without external-value, contributing a unique, base equity component or other variable mimicking, substantive financial asset
20. 20.

    An asset according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5016 or 7 or 8 or9 or 100111 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15 or 16 or 17 or 18 or 19 in addition to or instead of price tracking or dividend mimicking or income mimicking, the asset entitles the owners to receive -payout (in monies or monies worth or in other benefits) close to or precisely the same as the corresponding base asset/s or variable/s pays to its shareholders on insolvency (if any) -from the inventors or market provider/maintainer/administrar or relevant third party or provider of sensory display unit, contributing the additional or alternative characteristic of capital monies that track/mimic insolvency payout of a base share or other variable, without external-value, contributing a unique, base equity component or other variable mimicking, substantive financial asset.
21. 21.

    An asset according to claim I or 2 or3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or9 or 10 or 11 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 1501 16 or 17011801 19 or 20 or 21 in addition to or instead of price tracking or dividend mimicking or income mimicking or insolvency mimicking, the asset entitles the owners to receive -payout (in monies or monies worth or in other benefits) close to or precisely the same as any other benefit that the corresponding base asset/s or variable/s pays to its owners (if any) -from the inventors or market provider/maintaiflerfadmifliStrar or relevant third party or provider of sensory display unit, contributing the additional or alternative characteristic of capital and/or income monies and/or other benefits that track/mimic other value of a base share or other variable, without external-value, contributing a unique, base equity component or other variable mimicking, substantive financial asset