Google's Broad Patent

There has been quite a bit of news lately that you have applied for a patent on bill splitting. It's a helpful tool—we've all been to restaurants or lived with housemates and have needed a convenient way of calculating and tracking who owes what. But this technology already exists—and it has existed for a while. The fact that you feel compelled to file for this patent only further proves how broken the system is.

In fact, a number of companies have offered similar services over the last decade: Splitwise,BillpinPayDivvyWeSplit.it... the list goes on. The bill-splitting landscape not only drives the point that your patent should not be granted because of copious prior art, but it also highlights the many startups that would find themselves facing the fear of a potential patent lawsuit down the road. Because even if you claim you have no intent to assert this patent now, if granted, it will be hanging over the heads of businesses large and small for the next two decades.

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