Patent and Copyright Protection for Innovations in Finance
讨论金融创新产品面临被快速模仿的风险，以及如何通过专利和版权法保护创新者，并举例说明法律保护能带来可观回报。
0 The originator of a new financial product bears substantial risk and expense in both creating the product and in introducing it to the market. If successful innovations can be quickly copied by competitors who bear none of the risk and expense but can divert profits from the innovator, then the potential diversion of profits reduces the incentives to create a new product. Recent court decisions, however, have recognized that protection can be accorded to some innovations in finance. These protections are due to a broad interpretation of copyright and patent laws, along with the fact that many of the recent innovations in finance require the use of a computer for practical implementation. The different laws that may be used to protect innovations in finance will be described, along with examples showing that innovators who avail themselves of legal protection may receive substantial financial rewards. Those rewards are lost forever to innovators