Retail IT News For VARS 2-9-15: New Patent Reform Legislation

By Phillip Britt, contributing writer

In the news, new patent reform legislation has been introduced, there is speculation Samsung could introduce a mobile wallet, and an author shares best practices for dealing with point of sale (POS) system malware attacks.

New Patent Toll Legislation Introduced, Merchant Coalition Supports Reform

The National Retail Federation acknowledged new legislation introduced last week as an important next step in “disruption operations of patent trolls.” This legislation, the Innovation Act, serves as an updated version of another bill proposed in 2013. A previous bill passed the House, but did not pass the Senate last year. In January the NRF and Oracle announced a new coalition called United for Patent Reform with representatives from grocery, retail, hotel, restaurant, and technology companies.

Will Samsung Pay Be A Reality?

Tech Times reports on speculations of a Samsung payment option on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S Edge. There are confirmed reports of Samsung in talks with LoopPay over potentially creating their own mobile wallet system. Samsung Pay will not only work with near-field communication (NFC) technology but with older magnetic swipe cards as well.

Best Practices To Protect POS From Malware

Jamey Heary from NetworkWorld shares three best practices for protecting POS systems from security breaches. He worked with a team from Cisco to analyze how to defend point of sale systems from attack. The article provides details of how to respond in the phases “before,” “during,” and “after” an attack.

Retail IT Talking Points

According to Fox News, technology may be leading customers to become better tippers. Apps make it easier for small businesses to accept credit card payments; for example, Square includes buttons for predetermined tip amounts in percentages or actual dollar amounts. There is also the option for the customer to leave a custom (generated with math) tip should they so choose.