With a 'Buy It Now' eBay Settles MercExchange Suit
Friday, February 29, 2008
Auctioneer agrees to purchase patents to popular feature
The seven-year patent dispute that ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court was settled Thursday when eBay agreed to purchase the patents for the popular "Buy It Now" feature from MercExchange.
The Associated Press story, carried widely, reports that in a statement Thursday eBay said it bought the three MercExchange patents at issue for an undisclosed price, a figure that "would not materially affect its financial results."
The legal wrangling started in 2001 when the Great Falls, Va.-based MercExchange accused eBay of infringing on technologies it had patented that the auctioneer was using to power "Buy It Now" transactions. It appears that eBay chose the wrong company to tangle with in this matter: MercExchange founder Thomas Woolston is not only an engineer but a patent lawyer as well.
AP: "A jury ruled in MercExchange's favor in 2003, awarding $35 million in damages. A judge reduced the award to $25 million, but with interest the penalty had reached $30 million by December, when a federal judge certified the penalty and eBay was still threatening to continue appealing.
"MercExchange had hoped to win a court order preventing eBay from continuing to use the technology. It pursued that quest to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2006 that judges do not necessarily have to block a technology from being used when a jury finds a patent violation."
In an interview, Woolston told the wire service that he settled rather than continue to endure appeals by eBay.
"It seemed like the right time to put it behind us, so we did," he said.
The seven-year patent dispute that ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court was settled Thursday when eBay agreed to purchase the patents for the popular "Buy It Now" feature from MercExchange.
The Associated Press story, carried widely, reports that in a statement Thursday eBay said it bought the three MercExchange patents at issue for an undisclosed price, a figure that "would not materially affect its financial results."
The legal wrangling started in 2001 when the Great Falls, Va.-based MercExchange accused eBay of infringing on technologies it had patented that the auctioneer was using to power "Buy It Now" transactions. It appears that eBay chose the wrong company to tangle with in this matter: MercExchange founder Thomas Woolston is not only an engineer but a patent lawyer as well.
AP: "A jury ruled in MercExchange's favor in 2003, awarding $35 million in damages. A judge reduced the award to $25 million, but with interest the penalty had reached $30 million by December, when a federal judge certified the penalty and eBay was still threatening to continue appealing.
"MercExchange had hoped to win a court order preventing eBay from continuing to use the technology. It pursued that quest to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2006 that judges do not necessarily have to block a technology from being used when a jury finds a patent violation."
In an interview, Woolston told the wire service that he settled rather than continue to endure appeals by eBay.
"It seemed like the right time to put it behind us, so we did," he said.
posted by Chris and Frank at 12:02 AM
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