Ask HN: AmEx Patent Application for Payments on Social Networks

3 points

12 years ago

It looks like American Express is trying to get a patent for our service. (And many others.)

The patent application is for a system that can "transfer value" on social networks. US Patent 20140006297: July 2, 2013

Our service: PikaPay.com : https://www.PikaPay.com/ - Send Bitcoins to anyone on Twitter, as easy as a Tweet.

PikaPay is a Bitcoin wallet integrated with the Twitter API and is one of the fastest and easiest ways to use Bitcoin. Just like in the Amex patent, with PikaPay the recipient doesn't need to have a PikaPay account to receive bitcoins.

We were the first to start sending bitcoins on Twitter back in 2011. But we're sure that scores of other companies have been doing "value transfer via social networks" even earlier.

What does HN think about this?

Do we have to take the patent application seriously in any way, and is there anything specific we should do?

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