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Systemagic

EBay may face injunction in patent case

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7212604/

"...patents that MercExchange charged were key to eBay's "Buy it Now" "

"Such sales accounted for about 31 percent of the total value of goods sold on eBay in the fourth quarter of last year, eBay said."

""The big factor here is the awesome power of a nationwide injunction," said Sean Hodge, a partner at Howrey Simon Arnold & White in San Francisco."

EBay's spin: ""We believe that any injunction that might be issued by the district court with respect to the other patent will not have an impact on our business because of changes we have made following the District Court's original verdict," eBay said in a statement."

We'll see. Time will tell. I wonder how the markets will feel about another 31% worth of uncertainty?

psunite · Joined: 27 Jan 2005 Posts: 6213 Location: Columbus OH

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42239-2005Mar16.html

http://www.mercexchange.com/docs.htm

I wonder if any of the alternative auction sites have a patent-infringement since it is related to "fixed price" sales, which lots of sites have.

Systemagic · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:12 pm Post subject:

Online retailer Overstock.com Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK) said on Wednesday it received an inquiry from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding its shipping policies and systems and other matters.

Systemagic · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 11:56 am Post subject:

A more recent article citing a $100 million cost relative to the previously mentioned $25 mil.:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0503210001mar21,1,4094024.story?coll=chi-technology-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true