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Judge's Ruling Spares 1-Click

Posted by timothy on from the press-1-for-dismissal-or-stay-on-the-line dept.

theodp writes "Agreeing with Amazon's characterization of its 1-Click feature as a feature of an electronic product ordering system and not an electronic fund transfer or transaction system, a Judge has tossed out a $50M lawsuit that threatened Amazon's 1-Click patent. But outside of Court, Amazon touts its patent-pending Amazon Honor System as a way for Web sites to use 1-Click shopping technology for voluntary payment transactions - most notably for 9-11 donations and campaign contributions - that do not involve consumer goods or Amazon-specified prices, which the Judge argues are essential 1-Click ingredients."

9 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. This is what happens when... by DAldredge · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is what happens when you are the ones who give the whores in DC money to write laws and regs for you.

    Large companies in the US are not held to the same standard as others are.

  2. Re:but... by Daengbo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Regretfully, what happens in civil court doesn't orften reflect the outside world. I think another suit will have to be filed with Amazon's claims as part of the complaint for them to be taken seriously and the patent thrown out (or at least clarified).

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    Put identity in the browser.
  3. One-click shopping by memodude · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How can a company patent one-click shopping? If you think about it, one-click shopping is just a system for storing credit card info and address info in an account, then facilitating purchases without requiring to enter that info again. Software patents are just pathetic.

    1. Re:One-click shopping by stinerman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Indeed, how is it different from clicking submit when I complete this post?

      The /. servers store my username, preference settings, etc. I only have to login the one time to my account so I can single-click the submit button to post my statement.

    2. Re:One-click shopping by Dashing+Leech · · Score: 4, Insightful
      How can a company patent one-click shopping? If you think about it, one-click shopping is just a system for ...

      You objection seems to be that such a system is obvious. I wholeheartedly agree with you there. There are rules against patenting the obvious, and things like this seem to be slipping through. However, then you say:

      Software patents are just pathetic.

      It's not clear how the former justifies the latter statement. The patent on 1-Click appears to violate the existing rules for patents on obviousness. There are also plenty of non-software patents that violate such rules (playing with a cat using a laser pointer, the combover, etc.). So how does any of this show that software patents in particular are pathetic? Or was it a non-sequitor?

    3. Re:One-click shopping by Sebby · · Score: 4, Insightful
      So how does any of this show that software patents in particular are pathetic?

      The other non-sw patents you mention are simply ridiculous. Software patents are pathetic since they are purposly broadly written so that pretty much anything done with a computer (even if it already exists in the non-software world) will infringe. That's pathetic.

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  4. Mutter, mutter by jd · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Amazon "wins" by telling the judge the one-click stuff is for one thing, but tells the public it's for another. I thought lying to a judge was contempt of court. And if they didn't lie to the judge, then they're lying to their consumers, which is false advertising and possibly fraud.


    I don't see how any company thinks it can win by trying to pull this kind of stunt. Well, other than by the fact that companies usually do win by pulling this kind of stunt, because nobody really pursues it, since they expect the company to lie through their teeth anyway.


    That, I think, is the biggest problem. Because nobody expects a business to have any integrity, they don't do anything when that proves to be the case. If you want better, sometimes you've got to believe you deserve better and do something about it.

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    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  5. Re:Welcome to Reality by tindur · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A republic can be an oligarchy.

  6. Heh by Mephie · · Score: 4, Insightful
    And yet, still, virtually every time a slashdotter posts a link to a book it's an amazon.com link.

    Look, if you're so outraged by Bezos and his stupid fucking patents, STOP SHOPPING AMAZON and STOP ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO DO SO. Might I recommend bn.com or, God forbid, get off your ass and drive to your local Mom and Pop bookstore? The latter is almost certainly more deserving of your loyalty than is Amazon.

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    Buy the President