The question is: Did the "pioneering a new digital approach instead of mailing around checks" represent a significant investment that needs to be protected, or

The question is: Did the "pioneering a new digital approach instead of mailing around checks" represent a significant investment that needs to be protected, or was it just a good idea? Patents do not exist to give you a an easy monopoly on any random idea (or at least they shouldn't). Patents exist to give companies an incentive to invest into costly research and then be able to publish the ideas, while getting some time to recoup the cost of the investment. The litmus test is, would this idea have seen the light of the day without a lot of upfront cost? If so, it is not in the interest of society as a whole to grant a legal monopoly here. Just my $0.02.