Perhaps the stench emanating from the Senate chamber wasn’t strong enough for you yesterday?  Well, it just got worse.  Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala) has sponsored a bill that immunizes commercial banks from having to pay billions of dollars in damages to a small, Plano, Texas company named DataTreasury, according to the Washington Post.

DataTreasury is the company that developed the system for digitally scanning, sending and storing checks.  This would be the system that banks have been using for years.  Except they have been infringing on DataTreasury’s patent to do so, and the boom is about to fall.

So what do banks do when they caught with their finger in the cookie jar?  They buy Congress.

Lobbyists for the Roundtable and the banks, including prominent free-lance lobbying firms Smith-Free Group, Bryan Cave Strategies and Quadripoint Strategies, conducted rush visits with Judiciary Committee members and their aides to advocate the measure. Sessions’s staff produced a three-page description of the amendment and its background with the help of the Roundtable and distributed it to the committee.

Commercial banks are considered a potent force on Capitol Hill, in part because of their heavy contributions to lawmakers. They are the 10th-largest donor to federal candidates among the industry groups followed by the Center for Responsive Politics. They also spend millions of dollars a year on lobbying.

Suddenly, an amendment gets tucked inside a bill that nobody knows about and slides through like a senator with a full tube of KY Jelly at a Jamaican international trade conference.

And is there any doubt as to the social utility of this amendment?

The provision introduced by Sessions did not name DataTreasury but was carefully tailored to apply to that company and its “check collection” system.  The amendment was approved by the committee in minutes and without opposition. The measure received little news media attention outside the banking trade press.

 That’s how they make sausage in Washington to feed those hungry lobbyists.  After all, it’s a lot cheaper to through a few mil into the campaign coffers than pay a few bil to the guy you stole the technology from.  And this way, many politicians will get to feed from the trough instead of one poor schmuck in Plano.  Or one small company.

The banks, naturally, are thrilled with the helpfulness of our fine government.

The banks are emphatic about the need for the protection. “This is a glaring example of the abuse of the system,” said former congressman Steve Bartlett (R-Tex.), president of the Financial Services Roundtable. “It’s an example of what’s wrong with patent law.” He called the Sessions amendment a priority for the banking industry.

So what’s wrong with patent law is that the guy who invents the system expects the big banks to pay for it?  Bad patent system.  Evil patent system.   This is an outrage.

But the United States Department of Commerce recognizes this end run as a dangerous precedent.

The Commerce Department has objected to the amendment, including in a letter last week to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the Judiciary Committee chairman. “Limiting patent holders’ rights and remedies in this instance could reduce innovation in this technology area,” wrote Assistant Secretary Nathaniel F. Wienecke. “The Administration does not support exceptions to patent protection based on a particular technology.”

Who would invest in developing a new technology if the big corps can steal it and they buy off Congress to pass a law giving them immunity from liability? 

Rarely does one see Congress function in such a flagrantly cynical and despicable way.  Sure, they tried to slide it past everybody quietly, but they must have known that eventually somebody would learn about it.  The notion that banks can buy off liability through Congress makes the whole Telecom stink almost bearable.  At least the Telecoms did it because Justice told them it was to protect us from terrorists.  This one is pure simple greed, without any connection to a legitimate purpose, no matter how ridiculous.  Pure and simple, the banks need Congress to help them steal patented technology from this company, and our Congress is happy to help if the price is right.

Telecoms, Banks, just one question.  How much does Senator Sessions cost, and does he do children’s birthday parties?

Update:  Take a look at the comments to this post at Patently-O.  If the banks can just buy their way out of one big patent mess, what does that mean for others, and for the lawyers who represent them?  Might as well patent your innovation in China for all the good the United States will do you.

Full Disclosure:  I am an equity holder in DataTreasury, having received a small interest from a client some years ago, which is how I became aware of this story.