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http://news.com.com/2100-1018_3-1010397.ht...html?tag=fd_top

Jury: eBay guilty of patent infringement

By Alorie Gilbert
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 27, 2003, 8:10 PM PT

update A federal jury on Tuesday found eBay guilty of patent infringement and ordered the online auction giant to pay $35 million in damages.
A U.S. district Court jury sided with MercExchange of Great Falls, Va., which accused eBay in 2001 of infringing on three patents held by MercExchange founder Tom Woolston. The verdict determined that eBay and its Half.com subsidiary willfully infringed on two of those patents with their "Buy It Now" feature for fixed-price sales.

The willful infringement ruling opens the door for the judge to hold eBay liable for triple damages, or $105 million, said Neil Smith, an attorney specializing in intellectual property law at Howard Rice, a San Francisco firm. The judge may also issue an injunction against eBay to prevent the company from continuing to use the patented invention, a method for using a credit card to lock in an offer when purchasing items online, Smith said.

"The important implication is the specter of an injunction," Smith said. "It casts some uncertainly over the right to use the invention, which may impact the 'Buy It Now' feature at both eBay and Half.com. That feature certainly relates to a good chunk of their business"

WOW this is HUGE news!!!

How the hell can you patent that? Bah.

Quote:

Originally posted by Rictor@May 28 2003, 04:42 PM
How the hell can you patent that? Bah.

the same way you can patent exit consoles ...

what a joke

:rolleyes:

The patent does seem lame. But, a jury upheld it and that is a big thing in a patent fight....

So, either they have some slick lawyers or the fix was in. Nonetheless, this makes it a lot harder for anyone else they come after to fight them off. Ebay is a big fish. Smaller companies will end up paying them off figuring Ebay lost, so why bother fighting. The more companies that settle, the bigger the war chest the next time someone decides to fight them....

:grrr:

What's next, someone patents message boards? we're all fucked

They'll probably do smilies first...

so use em while you can....

:lol:

:bdance: :bwave: :bjump: :cdance: :bjump: :bwave: :bdance: