Is E-Bay Next?

March 29, 2006 mle3

A new Supreme Court case, e-Bay v MercExchange is being fought based on the patent rights held by the latter for the "buy-it-now" technology. MercExchange has won in an appeals court the right to gain an injunction against e-Bay for the infringement on a MercExchange patent.

This case is similar to the Blackberry case that was recently lost by the plaintiff regarding the e-mailing capabilities of the hand-held device.

It is being claimed that MercExchange is what is known as a patent troll-a group that buys the patent on a product or idea with no intention to use it, but rather to sell it for a much higher price when the time is right. MercExchange claims to not be doing this.

I can certainly understand why everyone involved here wants to be right. E-Bay makes millions of dollars with their online shopping center, and it seems that everyone benefits from it. I feel that since MercExchange was not in the process of developing a way to use their patent that they should not be able to stop e-Bay. Rather, they should have to sell their patent to e-Bay for a price. I realize that legally this may not be feasible, and I also realize that patents are supposed to protect those who develop ideas and products. However, it seems to me that in the technological race where everyone is out to make a buck, more than one company will come out with an idea at a time. As long as these ideas were not stolen from eachother (and how can you really know) then move faster to get your product out there. MercExchange may be a small company, but technological millionaires have been known to develop successfully with the drive of two people.