Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Ruling in eBay patent-infringement case could be far-reaching

What looks to be a narrow point of law could have big implications for IT

March 28, 2006 12:00 PM ET

IDG News Service - When the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow in a patent infringement case, its examination of what may seem to be a narrow point of law could have far-reaching implications for the U.S. technology industry.

In eBay v. MercExchange, the court will examine whether near-automatic injunctions should be granted when a company is found to be infringing a patent (see "High court to hear landmark eBay patent case"). Much of the tech industry is siding with eBay Inc., which was found guilty in May 2003 of infringing a "buy it now" patent held by MercExchange LLC, a small auction site. An appeals court later ruled that an injunction against eBay's use of the "buy it now" feature was appropriate.

On the other side are independent inventors and many pharmaceutical companies, which spend millions of dollars developing new drugs and want to protect their patents.

The case could shift the balance of power between inventors -- some of them one-person operations or small businesses -- and large companies that sell products such as software and hardware, say observers of the case. A court ruling for eBay could make it harder for inventors to collect patent damages and easier for large vendors to market their products without fear of a court shutting them down.

In the eBay case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to issue an injunction after a $35 million jury award, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed that decision, saying an injunction was warranted.

Both sides say their arguments support innovation. "I think everybody's right," said John Englander, a partner at law firm Goodwin Procter LLP who has represented pharmaceutical companies. "All of this is a balancing act."

If the Supreme Court rejects near-automatic injunctions, "that's perceived by inventors as devaluing the value of a patent," he added. "The long-term impact is, at some point there will be a drag on innovation, because there will be less of it."

Many large technology vendors disagree, saying injunctions issued in patent infringement cases hurt their ability to bring products to market. Many complicated tech products -- such as a laptop -- can contain hundreds of patented inventions, and if the vendor overlooks one patent, an injunction can stop the vendor from selling the total product, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and other trade groups.

In the eBay case, the company would still be able to operate if the courts bar it from using its "buy it now" feature. But in another case earlier this month, BlackBerry device maker Research In Motion Ltd. agreed to pay patent holder NTP Inc. more than $612 million rather than face a potential injunction barring it from offering its mobile e-mail service in the U.S.


Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2009 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Jump to comments

Legislation/Regulation

Additional Resources

EFD vs. HDD - What You Need to Know
WHITE PAPER
Enterprise flash drives provide a new Tier 0 storage layer capable of delivering high I/O performance at a very low latency. Proper use of EFDs in an Oracle environment can deliver increased performance compared to fibre channel drives. Read the recommendations for identification of the best DB components for EFDs.
Gartner Research Report: Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers, 2009
WHITE PAPER
The market for products to improve the delivery of application software over networks remains dynamic and innovative. Vendors focused on solving enterprises' most-pressing application problems have become the top players.
Eight Criteria for Server Load Balancing
WHITE PAPER
Server load balancers are a simple yet highly effective means to scale an application environment while ensuring its availability. Today's solutions should also address application performance and security. Read about the top eight criteria you should consider when choosing a server load balancer and how Citrix NetScaler meets those requirements.

White Papers & Webcasts

The Workday User Experience Video
Watch Workday's Creative Director, Scott Lietzke, discuss the business-centered design philosophy at Workday.

Business Process Framework Demo
Learn about Configurable Business Processes and Calculated Fields. Watch Now!

Manager Experience Demo
Go beyond self-service solutions to perform more effectively. Watch Now.


IT Jobs