To begin with your business card and its offers will be primarily based on your personal credit score and report. As a business entrepreneur you too must check about the credit card companies and their reporting credit agencies. The common agencies are Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, Business Credit USA, and Equifax. Before accepting a card it is important for you to check interest rates, offers, and rules and regulations pertaining to each card and always choose one that suits your needs and is most economical.

A business credit card will help streamline you finance management and keep separate personal and business accounts. It will help you build a descent business credit history that will spur your business activities to higher levels.

1. Always apply for a business credit card with a financial institution or bank where you have an established business reputation. This just means faster approvals and greater credit limits.

2. Never apply for more than one business credit card. Card hopping just has a negative effect on your financial standing. Furthermore, managing multiple cards can be a problem.

3. A business credit card is what must be used over a personal card for all transactions involving your business. For IRS purposes and easy accounting all business expenditure must be made through the business credit card.

4. Find out from the business credit card company whether they provide an itemized bill at the end of the financial year. A categorized and itemized detailed summary of transactions will make the bookkeeping process easy.

5. Prudent use of a business credit card will help you build business credit and stand you in good stead when you need credit lines or loans when your business expands and prospers.

6. Most business credit cards have reward schemes that offer clients facilities ranging from office stationary to travel and hotel discounts. Using the business credit card will help lower business expenses through use of rewards.

7. Providing employees with a business credit card will give you greater control of spending. And you as the employer can determine what the limits should be.

8. Most business cards will offer a 21 grace period after which you must stele all dues. To benefit from credit cards you must settle dues in full otherwise the interest payments will become a burden on your business. Stay away from late payments as it has a negative effect on your credit rating and report.

9. Use the credit card to make payments instead of checks it will help enhance cash flow.

10. Avoid taking cash advances on your card as it will escalate credit card fees and interest costs. Be smart and use business account debit facilities.

A business credit card is a privilege being offered by banks and other institutions. Be smart and prudent and the credit card will offer you many advantages. If you mismanage the credit card then you will be in serious trouble and on the road to financial ruin or bankruptcy.

Globalization refers to increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres. Globalization is an umbrella term and is perhaps best understood as a unitary process inclusive of many sub-processes (such as enhanced economic interdependence, increased cultural influence, rapid advances of information technology, and novel governance and geopolitical challenges) that are increasingly binding people and the biosphere more tightly into one global system. An example of globalization was the invention of the Internet.

There are several definitions and all usually mention the increasing connectivity of economies and ways of life across the world. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that globalization is the “process by which the experience of everyday life … is becoming standardized around the world.” While some scholars and observers of globalization stress convergence of patterns of production and consumption and a resulting homogenization of culture, others stress that globalization has the potential to take many diverse forms.

In economics, globalization is the convergence of prices, products, wages, rates of interest and profits towards developed country norms. Globalization of the economy depends on the role of human migration, international trade, movement of capital, and integration of financial markets. The International Monetary Fund notes the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions, free international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology. Theodore Levitt is usually credited with globalization’s first use in an economic context.

Globalization has various aspects which affect the world in several different ways such as:

1. Industrial (alias trans nationalization) - emergence of worldwide production markets and broader access to a range of goods for consumers and companies
2. Financial - emergence of worldwide financial markets and better access to external financing for corporate, national and subnational borrowers
3. Economic - realization of a global common market, based on the freedom of exchange of goods and capital.
4. Political - Political globalization is the creation of a world government which regulates the relationships among nations and guarantees the rights arising from social and economic globalization.
5. Informational - increase in information flows between geographically remote locations
6. Cultural - growth of cross-cultural contacts; advent of new categories of consciousness and identities such as Globalism - which embodies cultural diffusion, the desire to consume and enjoy foreign products and ideas, adopt new technology and practices, and participate in a “world culture”.
7. Ecological- the advent of global environmental challenges that can not be solved without international cooperation, such as climate change, cross-boundary water and air pollution, over-fishing of the ocean, and the spread of invasive species.
8. Social - the achievement of free circulation by people of all nations.
9. Greater international cultural exchange

• Spreading of multiculturalism, and better individual access to cultural diversity (e.g. through the export of Hollywood and Bollywood movies). However, the imported culture can easily supplant the local culture, causing reduction in diversity through hybridization or even assimilation. The most prominent form of this is Westernization, but Sinicization of cultures has taken place over most of Asia for many centuries.
• Greater international travel and tourism
• Greater immigration, including illegal immigration
• Spread of local consumer products to other countries (often adapted to their culture)
• World-wide fads and pop culture such as Pokémon, Sudoku, Numa Numa, Origami, Idol series, YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace.
• World-wide sporting events such as FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.
• Formation or development of a set of universal values

10. Technical/legal

• Development of a global telecommunications infrastructure and greater transborder data flow, using such technologies as the Internet, communication satellites, submarine fiber optic cable, and wireless telephones

• Increase in the number of standards applied globally; e.g. copyright laws, patents and world trade agreements.

• The push by many advocates for an international criminal court and international justice movements.

Since World War II, barriers to international trade have been considerably lowered through international agreements - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Particular initiatives carried out as a result of GATT and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), for which GATT is the foundation, have included:

11. Promotion of free trade

• Reduction or elimination of tariffs; construction of free trade zones with small or no tariffs

• Reduced transportation costs, especially from development of containerization for ocean shipping.

• Reduction or elimination of capital controls

• Reduction, elimination, or harmonization of subsidies for local businesses

12. Intellectual property restrictions

• Harmonization of intellectual property laws across the majority of nations, with more restrictions.

• Supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions

Globalization can also be defined as the internationalization of everything related to different countries.

Business law consists of several different areas typically taught in law school curricula, including: Contracts, the law of Corporations and other Business Organizations, Securities Law, Intellectual Property (Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Rights of Publicity), Antitrust, Secured Transactions, Commercial Paper, Income Tax, Pensions & Benefits, Trusts & Estates, Immigration Law, Labor Law, Employment Law and Bankruptcy.

Business method patents are a class of patents which disclose and claim new methods of doing business. This includes new types of e-commerce, insurance, banking, tax compliance etc. There is a sustained debate as to what extent such patents should be granted, particularly for inventions that are essentially legal or contractural in nature as opposed to technological in nature. Nonetheless, they have become important assets for both independent inventors and major corporations.

Legal situation

The legal situation as to whether business methods are allowed as patentable subject matter varies from legal jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) does not specifically address business method patents.

The United States, Australia, Japan and Singapore are considered “safe havens” for business method patents. [opinion needs balancing] The situation in Canada, Korea and Taiwan is not clear. Patent protection for business method patents in Israel, China, India, Mexico, and most of Europe is difficult.

Australia

There is no general prohibition on the patentability of business methods in Australia. Their patentability is determined by applying the tests used to determine the patentability of any type of invention.

However, in a recent decision, Grant v Commissioner of Patents [2006] FCAFC 120, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia held that a business method will only be patentable if it has a physical aspect, being a concrete, tangible, physical, or observable effect or phenomenon. Accordingly, ‘pure’ business methods, being those that do not have a physical aspect, are not patentable in Australia.

Canada

Pure business methods cannot be patented in Canada because of its pre-constitutional (in 1982) subordination to British Common Law. Article 1(2)(c) of the Patent Law of 1977 “It is hereby declared that the following (among other things) are not inventions for the purposes of this Act, that is to say, anything which consists of …. a scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, or a program for a computer.” For example, the Canadian counterpart application of the U.S. patent at issue in the State Street case has been abandoned.

However, a business method patent may be patented in Canada if the patent is claimed in a manner which provides that an apparatus is involved. See Mark B Eisen, Arts and Crafts: The Patentability of Business Methods in Canada (2001), 17 C.I.P. Rev. 279.

European Patent Convention

Under the European Patent Convention, “Schemes, rules and methods for (…) doing business” are not regarded as being inventions and are not patentable, “to the extent that a European patent application or European patent relates to such subject-matter or activities as such”.

But if a new method solves a technical, rather than a purely administrative, problem then it may indeed be patentable. (For example, an improved design of letter-franking machine).

Japan

In Japan, business methods are well recognized and accepted as patentable subject matter. The legal standard used to assess whether a business method is patentable requires that inventions be “a highly advanced creation of technical ideas by which a law of nature is utilized.”

Patents are not issued solely for business methods. The business method must contain a technical aspect that is both tangible and real.

However this requirement may be satisfied simply by specifying that the method is implemented using a computer.

United States

There is no exclusion for methods of doing business under US patent law. Patent applications for methods of doing business are examined using the same standards as any other invention.

History

Patents have been granted in the United States on methods for doing business since the US patent system was established in 1790. The first financial patent was granted on March 19, 1799, to Jacob Perkins of Massachusetts for an invention for “Detecting Counterfeit Notes.” All details of Mr. Perkins invention, which presumably was a device or process in the printing art, were lost in the great Patent Office fire of 1836. Its existence is only known from other sources.
Header from 1840 US patent 1700 on a new type of private lottery.
Header from 1840 US patent 1700 on a new type of private lottery.

The first financial patent for which any detailed written description survives was to a printing method entitled “A Mode of Preventing Counterfeiting” granted to John Kneass on April 28, 1815. The first fifty years of the U.S. Patent Office saw the granting of forty-one financial patents in the arts of bank notes (2 patents), bills of credit (1), bills of exchange (1), check blanks (4); detecting and preventing counterfeiting (10), coin counting (1), interest calculation tables (5), and lotteries (17).

On the other hand, cases such as Hotel Security Checking Co. v. Lorraine Co., 160 F. 467 (2d Cir. 1908), which held that a bookkeeping system to prevent embezzlement by waiters was unpatentable, were often read to imply a “business method exception”, in which business methods are unpatentable.

For many years, the USPTO took the position that “methods of doing business” were not patentable. With the emergence in the 1980 and 1990’s of patent applications on internet or computer enabled methods of doing commerce, however, USPTO found that it was no longer practical to determine if a particular computer implemented invention was a technological invention or a business invention. Consequently they took the position that examiners would not have to determine if a claimed invention was a method of doing business or not. They would determine patentability based on the same statutory requirements as any other invention.

The subsequent allowance of patents on computer implemented methods for doing business was challenged in the 1998 State Street Bank v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., (47 USPQ 2d 1596 (CAFC 1998)). The court affirmed the position of the USPTO and rejected the theory that a “method of doing business” was excluded subject matter. The court further confirmed this principle with AT&T Corporation v. Excel Communications, Inc., (50 USPQ 2d 1447 (Fed. Cir. 1999)).

The USPTO continued to require, however, that business method inventions must apply, involve, use or advance the “technological arts” in order to be patentable. This was based on an unpublished decision of the U.S. Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, Ex Parte Bowman, 61 USPQ2d 1665, 1671 (Bd Pat. App. & Inter. 2001). This requirement could be met by merely requiring that the invention be carried out on a computer.

In October 2005 the USPTO’s own administrative judges overturned this position in a majority decision of the board in Ex Parte Lundgren, Appeal No. 2003-2088 (BPAI 2005). The board ruled that the “technological arts” requirement could not be sustained, as no such requirement existed in law.

In light of Ex Parte Lundgren, the USPTO has issued interim guidelines for patent examiners to determine if a given claimed invention meets the statutory requirements of being a process, manufacture, composition of matter or machine (35 USC 101). These guidelines assert that a process, including a process for doing business, must produce a concrete, useful and tangible result in order to be patentable. It does not matter if the process is within the traditional technological arts or not. A price for a financial product, for example, is considered to be a concrete useful and tangible result (see State Street Bank decision).

The USPTO has reasserted its position that literary works, compositions of music, compilations of data, legal documents (such as insurance policies), and forms of energy (such as data packets transmitted over the Internet), are not considered “manufactures” and hence, by themselves, are not patentable. Nonetheless, the USPTO has requested comments from the public on this position.

The Supreme Court has not recently ruled on business method patents. Justice Kennedy’s concurrence in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. referred to “potential vagueness and suspect validity” of some business method patents.

Classification

Methods of doing business that involve the use of a computer are classified in Class 705 (”data processing: financial, business practice, management or cost/price determination”). Class 705 includes sub-categories for industries such as health care, insurance, electronic shopping, inventory management, accounting, and finance.

Delays in examination

The USPTO is experiencing significant delays in examining business method patents. Projected delays of up to 14 years have been reported. The delays are due to a combination of the step change in business method filings as of the State Street Bank decision and the difficulty in hiring qualified examiners with financial services backgrounds (e.g. insurance and banking). It has also been reported, however, that inventors can get their patent applications examined in as little as six months, if they submit a Petition to make special. A petition to make special is a procedure for getting particular patents examined early.

More and more people are discovering the benefits of shopping online. Here’s how to get free auto insurance quotes online and get cheap rates quickly and easily.

Where can I get free auto insurance quotes online?

There are a ton of websites that will give you free auto insurance quotes online. The bigger sites are operated by the larger companies and only give you their quotes. But because rates can vary by $1,000 or more from one company to the next, you need to go to a site that will give you quotes from a number of auto insurance companies.

Not only can you get multiple rate quotes from these sites, the better sites also have an articles section where you can get auto insurance tips, and a chat section where you can talk with an insurance expert online and get answers to your questions.

What auto insurance discounts can I get?

When you fill out the online questionnaire for an insurance comparison site you’ll be asked what discounts you want. Here’s a list of the discounts that will save you the most money:

1. Increase your deductible - Depending on how high you raise it this can save you 30% to 50% on your auto insurance premium.

2. Combine your insurance - Placing your auto and homeowners insurance with the same company will save you up to 15% on your premium.

3. Install security devices - Outfitting your car with a burglar alarm or other theft-prevention device can get you a good-sized discount.

4. Eliminate unneeded coverage - You may want to eliminate your comprehensive and collision coverage if your car is more than five years old, or if the cost of your annual premium is the same as the value of your car.

Bottom Line

It only takes a few minutes to get a free auto insurance quote online and you could save $500 to $1,000 every year you own your car. So why not head over to an insurance comparison site right now and find out how much you can save.

Auto insurance is insurance people can purchase for cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Its primary use is to provide protection against losses incurred as a result of traffic accidents.

Coverage Available

The consumer may be protected with different coverage types depending on what coverage the insured purchases.

In the United States, liability insurance covers claims against the policy holder and generally, any other operator of the insured’s vehicle, provided they do not live at the same address as the policy holder and are not specifically excluded on the policy. In the case of those living at the same address, they must specifically be covered on the policy. Thus it is necessary for example, when a family member comes of driving age they must be added on to the policy. Liability insurance sometimes does not protect the policy holder if they operate any vehicles other than their own. When you drive a vehicle owned by another party, you are covered under that party’s policy. Non-owners policies may be offered that would cover an insured on any vehicle they drive. This coverage is available only to those who do not own their own vehicle and is sometimes required by the government for drivers who have previously been found at fault in an accident.

Generally, liability coverage does extend when you rent a car. Comprehensive policies (”full coverage”) usually also apply to the rental vehicle, although this should be verified beforehand. Full coverage premiums are based on, among other factors, the value of the insured’s vehicle. This coverage may not apply to rental cars because the insurance company does not want to assume responsibility for a claim greater than the value of the insured’s vehicle, assuming that a rental car may be worth more than the insured’s vehicle. Most rental car companies offer insurance to cover damage to the rental vehicle. These policies may be unnecessary for many customers as credit card companies, such as Visa and MasterCard, now provide supplemental collision damage coverage to rental cars if the transaction is processed using one of their cards. These benefits are restrictive in terms of the types of vehicles covered.

Liability

Liability coverage provides a fixed dollar amount of coverage for damages that an insured becomes legally liable to pay due to an accident or other negligence. For example, if an insured drives into a telephone pole and damages the pole, liability coverage pays for the damage to the pole. In this example, the insured also may become liable for other expenses related to damaging the telephone pole, such as loss of service claims (by the telephone company).

Liability coverage is available either as a combined single limit policy or as a split limit policy:

Combined Single Limit

A combined single limit combines property damage liability coverage and bodily injury coverage under one single combined limit. For example, an insured with a combine single liability limit strikes another vehicle and injures the driver and the passenger. Payments for the damages to the other driver’s car, as well as payments for injury claims for the driver and passenger, would be paid out under this same coverage.

Split Limits

A split limit liability coverage policy splits the coverages into property damage coverage and bodily injury coverage. In the example given above, payments for the other driver’s vehicle would be paid out under property damage coverage, and payments for the injuries would be paid out under bodily injury coverage.

Note that bodily injury liability coverage is also usually split as well into a maximum payment per person and a maximum payment per accident.

Collision

Collision coverage provides coverage for an insured’s vehicle that is involved in an accident, subject to a deductible. This coverage is designed to provide payments to repair the damaged vehicle, or payment of the cash value of the vehicle if it is not repairable. Collision coverage is optional. Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) is the term used by rental car companies for collision coverage.

Comprehensive

Comprehensive coverage provides coverage, subject to a deductible, for an insured’s vehicle that is damaged by incidents that are not considered Collisions. For example, fire, theft (or attempted theft), vandalism, weather, or impacts with animals are just some types of Comprehensive losses.

Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage

Uninsured/Underinsured coverage, also known as UM/UIM, provides coverage if another at-fault party either does not have insurance, or does not have enough insurance. In effect, your insurance company acts as at fault party’s insurance company.

In the United States, the definition of an uninsured/underinsured motorist, and corresponding coverages, are set by state laws.

Loss of Use

Loss of Use coverage, also known as rental coverage, provides reimbursement for rental expenses associated with having an insured vehicle repaired due to a covered loss.

Loan/Lease Payoff

Loan/Lease Payoff coverage, also known as GAP coverage or GAP insurance, was established in the early 1980s to provide protection to consumers based upon buying and market trends.

Due to the sharp decline in value immediately following purchase, there is generally a period in which the amount owed on the car loan exceeds the value of the vehicle, which is called “upside-down” or negative equity. Thus, if the vehicle is damaged beyond economical repair at this point, the owner will still owe potentially thousands of dollars on the loan. The escalating price of cars, longer-term auto loans, and the increasing popularity of leasing gave birth to GAP protection. GAP waivers provide protection for consumers when a “gap” exists between the actual value of their vehicle and the amount of money owed to the bank or leasing company. In many instances this insurance will also pay the deductible on the primary insurance policy. These policies are often offered at the auto dealership as a comparatively low cost add on that can be put into the car loan which provides coverage for the duration of the loan.

Consumers should be aware that a few states, including New York, require lenders of leased cars to include GAP insurance within the cost of the lease itself. This means that the monthly price quoted by the dealer must include GAP insurance, whether it is delineated or not. Nevertheless, unscrupulous dealers sometimes prey on unsuspecting individuals by offering them GAP insurance at an additional price, on top of the monthly payment, without mentioning the State’s requirements.

In addition, some vendors and insurance companies offer what is called “Total Loss Coverage.” This is similar to ordinary GAP insurance but differs in that instead of paying off the negative equity on a vehicle that is a total loss, the policy provides a certain amount, usually up to $5000, toward the purchase or lease of a new vehicle. Thus, to some extent the distinction makes no difference, i.e., in either case the owner receives a certain sum of money. However, in choosing which type of policy to purchase, the owner should consider whether, in case of a total loss, it is more advantageous for him or her to have the policy pay off the negative equity or provide a down payment on a new vehicle.

For example, assuming a total loss of a vehicle valued at $15,000, but on which the owner owes $20,000, the “gap” is $5000. If the owner has traditional GAP coverage, the “gap” will be wiped out and he or she may purchase or lease another vehicle or choose not to. If the owner has “Total Loss Coverage,” he or she will have to personally cover the “gap” of $5000, and then receive $5000 toward the purchase or lease of a new vehicle, thereby either reducing monthly payments, in the case of financing or leasing, or the total purchase price in the case of outright purchasing. So the decision on which type of policy to purchase will, in most instances, be informed by whether the owner can pay off the negative equity in case of a total loss and/or whether he or she will definitively purchase a replacement vehicle.

Car Towing Insurance

Car Towing coverage is also known as Roadside Assistance coverage. Traditionally, automobile insurance companies have agreed to only pay for the cost of a tow that is related to an accident that is covered under the automobile policy of insurance. This had left a gap in coverage for tows that are related to mechanical breakdowns, flat tires and running out of gas. To fill that void, insurance companies started to offer the Car Towing coverage, which pays for non-accident related tows.