

Ask HN: AmEx Patent Application for Payments on Social Networks - generalseven

It looks like American Express is trying to get a patent for our service. (And many others.)<p>The patent application is for a system that can &quot;transfer value&quot; on social networks.
US Patent 20140006297: July 2, 2013<p>Our service:
PikaPay.com : https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.PikaPay.com&#x2F;  -  <i>Send Bitcoins to anyone on Twitter, as easy as a Tweet.</i><p>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&#x27;t need to have a PikaPay account to receive bitcoins.<p>We were the first to start sending bitcoins on Twitter back in 2011. But we&#x27;re sure that scores of other companies have been doing &quot;value transfer via social networks&quot; even earlier.<p>What does HN think about this?<p>Do we have to take the patent application seriously in any way, and is there anything specific we should do?
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generalseven
Here's the link to the patent application at USPTO:
[http://1.usa.gov/KthuRL](http://1.usa.gov/KthuRL)

