An economy of services largely dominates our world today, but no patent system is available to support it. All signs point increasingly to evidence that in almost all countriese E ’and as enshrined in the TRIPS Agreemente E ’patent rules and procedures are seriously handicapped in their incapacity to respond to current economic reality. Many inventions today are made without any materiality, yet they are nonetheless genuine inventions, such as those that arise from the banking, insurance and business consulting industries. Todaye E -s patent system remains deeply linked to the making of things with human hands. It must evolve and adapt so that the new economy can also benefit from its advantages.