U.S. Supreme court to hear eBay patent case appeal
Published November 29th, 2005
The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it would consider an appeal by online auctioneer eBay Inc. in its patent battle with MercExchange, a developer of e-commerce technology. At issue for the justices is whether an appeals court erred in finding that a permanent injunction barring use of a technology must generally be issued once infringement of a valid patent has been determined. In its appeal, eBay said the ruling reduced a trial court judge’s discretion to exceptions involving national health and handed a club to companies that buy patents to make infringement claims. The justices will hear arguments in the case most likely in March or April, with a decision expected by the end of June. The high court said it would reconsider its precedents, including one from 1908, on when it is appropriate to grant an injunction against a patent infringer. MercExchange had argued against Supreme Court review, saying the principles involved in the case were well established. In 2003 a federal court ordered eBay to pay Virginia-based MercExchange $29.5 million (17.2 million pounds) for infringing two e-commerce patents that MercExchange charged were key to eBay’s “Buy it Now” feature, which handles fixed-price sales. Such sales accounted for about 31 percent of the total value of goods sold on eBay in the fourth quarter of 2004.
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