Bloomberg.com %26lt;a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps...; this figure in its coverage which speaks volumes - %26lt;blockquote%26gt;Applications for so-called business method patents have soared over the past decade, from 974 in fiscal 1997 to a peak of 14,364 in 2008, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.%26lt;/blockquote%26gt;