Thanx. That's interesting .... your: "They're wrong, but you'll have to persevere through the USPTO's incorrect application of the law". In addition to our application, our user interface will be miles away from historical or near competitors. But who cares... if the application is unique and patentable.
BTW I once did a patent and did not see patent office face to face. Is there a substantial advantage?
You're correct - standard off the shelf database, programming languages etc. But the data and analysis we provide has never been provided online, nor self-served by end users. And never with tiered pricing, and nor with a "Priceline" model ... pick your own price. I wasn't planning to get into the Priceline aspect here, but while we're on it... apparently Priceline's model has only caught on in non-consumer businesses, such as supplier bidding and brokerage applications. Fairly obscure activity.
1. My business is B-B but it will be very visible to the public, deploying promotion in Business Week, Forbes, etc. As for products, not services (we aren't selling our application - just the use of it), you have about 2 yrs in the pending cycle when you are more or less protected until the USPTO rejects you. Would this scenario apply to a service business, particularly as I've described?
2. On Priceline's splash page it shows 5 patents. My quick review says they are relevant specifically to the hotel and airlines industries... by way of both application and the technology to manage their miriad supply chain (which I don't have). And the literature says their more conceptual patents don't hold water. Have you been following Priceline in these regards?