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eBay guilty Of Patent Infringement, Ordered To Pay

Posted by timothy on from the cure-worse-than-disease dept.

theodp writes "Remember that patent infringement lawsuit brought against eBay? A U.S. District Court jury just ordered the online auction house to pay $35 million for infringing on patents for programs and procedures to operate an Internet-based auction."

2 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Jurors. by saden1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nothing worse than incompetent jurors. The idea of someone being able to patent the processes of auctioning is just appalling. What these jurors need to get through their head is that if something exist in some other form it shouldn't be patentable. I care not for eBay but this is ridiculous.

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    One is born into aristocracy, but mediocrity can only be achieved through hard work.
  2. New Business Model . . . by Dausha · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From the Article:

    "Woolston said he is 'walking on sunshine' over of the favorable verdict. The former technology expert for the CIA has prevailed in patent violation cases with other Internet companies before, including GoTo.com, now Overture Services. He enforced his patents with online car seller AutoTrader.com, which offers auctions as part of its service. He's also in the midst of a patent dispute with Priceline.com." [Emphasis mine]

    When companies sue, lawyers profit. Looks like a profitable e-commerce business model now exists where the e-commerce business is sued for violating questionable patents. What we really need is for the US Supreme Court to overrule the previous ruling that business practices are patentable. This would ease the burden on the USPTO and quash these law suits.

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    What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.