New Developments In The eBay-MercExchange "Buy It Now" Lawsuit

[regic]

Auctionbytes with an article on last Friday's court hearing:

The ongoing saga of the litigation between eBay and MercExchange over patents saw yet another day in court Friday, November 17, 2006, with several comments made by parties present about the concern for a case that could drag on ad nauseum. MercExchange's attorneys argued that "time is of the essence" and that MercExchange "may not be able to survive much longer without an injunction." eBay's attorneys argued that if MercExchange is allowed to submit new, and what it considers improperly submitted and irrelevant evidence, eBay should be entitled to "a full range of discovery." The attorneys also had animated exchanges over an issue of "prior art" from the original trial involving a videotape of another inventor's multimedia system...

full article: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m11/i20/s02

[regic]

More details:

MercExchange will have 3 months to put together a new brief in support of its motion for permanent injunction against eBay's Buy It Now feature, which generates 34 percent of eBay's Gross Merchandise Sales on the eBay platform. Likewise, eBay will have until March 16, 2007, to prepare a final brief for its motion for a stay of proceedings in light of the ongoing U.S. Patent Office reexamination of MercExchange's patents, which are at the heart of the legal wrangling.

In his order, Judge Friedman discussed eBay's claim that it had designed around the patent it was found guilty of infringing, the '256 patent. "Although eBay has offhandedly referred to its purported design around both in court and in its briefs, eBay appears to have failed to advance any evidence nor even make the express, yet uncorroborated, claim that it has in fact designed around the '265 patent." It's not clear whether the judge expects eBay to address this issue in its March 16th brief.

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m12/i29/s02

[amy]

In his order, Judge Friedman discussed eBay's claim that it had designed around the patent it was found guilty of infringing, the '256 patent. "Although eBay has offhandedly referred to its purported design around both in court and in its briefs, eBay appears to have failed to advance any evidence nor even make the express, yet uncorroborated, claim that it has in fact designed around the '265 patent." It's not clear whether the judge expects eBay to address this issue in its March 16th brief.

You mean they've never presented the court with actual proof that the alleged workaround really exists?  :blinkie:

[mandy]

The latest update:

The decision over whether eBay will be barred from using its Buy It Now feature is nearing - eBay and MercExchange will square off before US District Court Judge Friedman on June 12th at 11 am. In 2003, a jury had found eBay guilty of infringing MercExchanges' patents, and the case has dragged on through appeals all the way to the Supreme Court....

Both parties filed their briefs on March 26 after Judge Friedman chastised them last month, advising the parties to "stop filing letters, motions and briefs attempting to make an end run around the 20-page limit expressly established in this court's 12/18/06 order."...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m04/i18/s00

[mandy]

Latest update:

That tiny company in Great Lakes, Virginia is re-launching its attack on eBay’s Buy-It-Now button.

Four years after a federal jury found that eBay had infringed on its patent, MercExchange LLC has asked the court to shutdown Buy-It-Now, a service that allows eBayers to purchase items at set prices, without bidding at auction. U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Friedman has not said when he will rule on the case...

MercExchange lawyers have also requested that the judge increase the awarded damages to reflect eBay’s continued use of Buy-It-Now over the last four years. "Even if an injunction isn’t issued, there has to be some sort of damages paid," Horwitz continues. "eBay will likely have to pay over and above what the jury laid out."...

full article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/13/...njunction/

[mandy]

The latest:

A federal judge Friday denied a request from a small Virginia company to stop the online auction powerhouse eBay Inc. from using a feature that allows shoppers to purchase items at a fixed price.

U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Friedman denied a motion by MercExchange LLC for a permanent injunction against San Jose, Calif.-based eBay over the "Buy It Now" feature.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that although eBay infringed upon MercExchange's patent for the service, it was up to the lower court to decide whether eBay had to stop using it...

full article: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/EB...06452.html

[bargainbloodhound]

Judge denies motion for permanent injunction against eBay's use of "Buy It Now"

Too bad, an injunction would have removed all of the below wholesale price items from Google Product Search and made it easier for people to find our items.  :twistedevil:

[sneakymagenta]

[quote author=bargainbloodhound link=topic=564.msg62837#msg62837 date=1185766561]

Judge denies motion for permanent injunction against eBay's use of "Buy It Now"

Too bad, an injunction would have removed all of the below wholesale price items from Google Product Search and made it easier for people to find our items.  :twistedevil:
[/quote]

[mandy]

The latest developments:

The Federal District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, has entered a final judgment on damages relating to the patent lawsuit against eBay. In May 2003, a jury ruled eBay guilty of willful infringement of MercExchange's '265 patent and awarded damages. On December 11, 2007, Judge Friedman granted MercExchange's motion to certify the judgement...

In a press statement issued Wednesday morning, MercExchange said the amount of the judgement, with interest, is approximately $30 million...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m12/i12/s00

and:

eBay said it would appeal the District Court's ruling on Tuesday in the long-running MercExchange patent case. The court made a final judgement on damages awarded by a jury that requires eBay to pay $30 million to MercExchange, and it addressed other motions filed by both parties. However, when asked whether eBay would appeal the entire order and on what basis, eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy said the company has not yet formulated its entire strategy, and wouldn't reveal it in any case. It would appeal "at least the parts we think were wrong and decided incorrectly," he said...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m12/i13/s03

[mandy]

Update: eBay buys the patents from MercExchange:

After years of battling auction giant eBay in the courts, MercExchange has finally found closure. eBay announced it has acquired three MercExchange patents that have been at the heart of a grueling legal war between the two firms. According to a release issued by eBay about the settlement on Thursday afternoon, it also acquired some additional related technology and inventions and a license to another search-related patent portfolio that was not asserted in the lawsuit. eBay declined to disclose how much it had paid for the patents and technology....

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m02/i28/s00