Who’d dream that the little “Buy It Now!” button on the eBay website was worth $25 million in a patent infringement case?
From the Washington Business Journal
EBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) was ordered in 2003 to pay Great Falls-based MercExchange more than $29 million for infringing on e-commerce patents it held. Earlier this year, that was reduced to $25 million by the U.S. Appeals Court, but the court also reversed an earlier ruling that denied MercExchange’s request for a permanent injunction against eBay.
At issue for the Supreme Court will be whether patent infringement cases should always end in permanently banning companies from using the technology in question.
MercExchange had accused eBay of infringing on e-commerce patents used in its “Buy It Now” feature for fixed-price sales.
MercExchange licenses its e-commerce technology to companies that include AutoTrader, uBid and overture.
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