Internet Law
eBay Owes $30M for ‘Buy It Now’ Patent Infringement
Posted Dec 12, 2007, 04:43 pm CST
By Martha Neil
A $30 million payday is pending for a Virginia company that owns a patent on the "Buy It Now" mechanism that allows online eBay auction bidders the alternative of purchasing an item immediately at a preset price.
A federal judge in Norfolk, Va., declined yesterday to overturn a previous jury verdict that the world's biggest Internet auctioneer deliberately infringed the MercExchange patent. Instead, U.S. District Judge Jerome Friedman put a $30 million price tag on the infringement, reports Bloomberg. However, it doesn't appear likely that MercExchange will see the money anytime soon—eBay Inc. reportedly intends to appeal.
The case represents a legal landmark, Bloomberg notes, because it established a new patent infringement alternative. Previously, once infringement was established, a court order requiring the wrongdoer to stop using the plaintiff's technology was virtually automatic. However, Friedman allowed eBay to continue offering the "Buy It Now" alternative to users of its Internet auction site, in a decision that was upheld last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Now it is up to the judge in each case to decide whether the infringement must end.