STRATEGIC PARTNERS
May 7, 2003
BROOKLANDVILLE, Md. -- Eleven-year-old honor student Scott Barnhill intends to patent his idea for a so-called "Security One Card," which the fifth grader believes could eliminate the need for multiple cards.
The U.S. Patent Office issued Scott a patent approval for his idea in April, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun.
With Scott's idea, businesses such as video stores and supermarkets would add magnetic strips to a single credit card -- with the permission of the issuing merchants -- rather than requiring its users to carry separate cards. Companies could input the data at their establishments if they obtained one of the devices used to affix magnetic strips, according to the Sun.
So for instance, a consumer could ask a video store to add a strip onto a Visa card to allow rentals if the store agreed and Visa gave its permission.
Scott, who has many hobbies, including designing Web sites, told the Sun he got the idea at age 9.
"I was in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show, and we were checking into the Four Seasons Hotel," said Scott. "My Dad got the room key card, and I wondered, why not combine it? I think the hotels are wasting money with the key cards."
The way Scott sees it, instead of using a hotel-issued key card, guests could use their credit cards to gain room entry if a magnetic strip was added to the card at the hotel. At checkout, the strip would be removed.
Scott said he was also inspired by the multiple cards his father carries.
Scott wasn't thinking about a patent when he sketched his idea in his hotel room. "Actually, my Dad said it could be patentable, and I'm like, 'What's a patent?' " Scott said.
The boy's father, Gregory H. Barnhill, a former investment banker, encouraged his son to obtain a patent. The elder Barnhill contacted a friend, who referred them to a patent attorney.
Scott described the process, which included a five-minute presentation at the U.S. Patent Office, as "hard work," according to the Sun.
"I was nervous," he said, "because you want them to sort of like you, so they can help you out. You want them to have a good impression of you."
The family's patent attorney said Scott should expect the patent in the fall. First he'll have to pay a $650 government issue fee -- half of the cost charged to companies with more than 200 employees -- and a $300 publication fee.
In all, the patent, including legal costs, should cost less than $10,000, his father said.
As with most ideas, there are potential pitfalls.
If consumers convert several cards to one and then lose it, then they must replace multiple cards, said John Hall, spokesman for the American Bankers Association.
"It's a very interesting concept, and I certainly admire his inventive nature," Hall said. "The required approval may be a road block. Quite frankly, I think the companies like people carrying their cards for brand reasons and for marketing reasons. But I think if it's something consumers want, the companies will support it. The technology just may not be there right now."
Scott's next step is a letter-writing campaign intended to generate support from major credit-card companies.
"I'm going to be writing letters to credit-card companies and ask if they can co-op with them and if they'll give me money every time someone puts a strip on the back on another card, or every time the idea is used," Scott said. "I'll write the letters and see what they say. If they say no, I'll ask someone else, another credit-card company."
Scott is convinced that it would be better to collect royalties rather than sell the patent outright.
"The ATM person who invented that sold it outright, and if he'd chosen royalties he'd get like 2 cents for every transaction and he'd be a billionaire now," Scott said.
