Detecting obviousness in the midst of complex technical rhetoric

The article linked below, titled "A Patent on Seven Simple Lines of Code," discusses the problem of obvious and abstract ideas being patented through the use of lengthy text and complicated jargon.

Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International (also linked below) deals with patents on third party escrow, which is just a fancy way of saying "two parties exchanging money through a third party." It's an abstract concept of trade that's been used throughout history, between parties seeking to exchange currency through a mutually trusted party. What's concerning is that a claim involved in the case describes a computer, linked to a data storage unit and a communications controller, to:

"electronically adjust said first account and said third account in order to effect an exchange obligation arising from said transaction between said first party and said second party after ensuring that said first party and/or said second party have adequate value in said first account and/or said third account, respectively."

In short, the claim addresses a computerized system of third party escrow. Despite the lengthy rhetoric and an impressive array of technical jargon, the patents involved point to an abstract idea, which is nothing more than 7 lines of BASIC code. If one account has enough money to transfer to another, then  the transfer happens, and "inadequate value" is returned otherwise. Simple.

10 LET account1 = 200.00
20 LET account3 = 300.00
30 INPUT “Value to exchange for transaction”; exchange
40 IF account1 < exchange THEN PRINT “Inadequate value”: STOP
50 account1 = account1 – exchange
60 account3 = account3 + exchange
70 PRINT “Instruction to 1st institution: adjust 2nd account by ”; -exchange

An abstract trade concept, used throughout history, was patented because obviousness wasn't properly detected. Amidst the complicated technical jargon and lengthy text, 7 lines of code were able to slip through. In the future, I think we'll be seeing more abstract ideas being patented, under the guise of being sophisticated technical concepts. For this reason, we should be vigilant of skillful lawyers who write dangerous patents and keep our patent workers and regulations updated on this kind of problem.

http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/alice-corporation-pty-ltd-v-cls-bank-international/

http://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/blogs/a-patent-on-seven-simple-lines-of-code

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5APIZLCrKy8