posted on May 15, 2006 01:34:25 PM
The Supreme Court sided with eBay in a patent fight Monday, in a ruling that will make it easier for large companies to avoid court injunctions in such disputes.
Justices, in a unanimous opinion, said that judges have flexibility before they impose court orders barring continued use of a technology after juries find a patent violation. They must consider several factors, the court said.
The fight centered on eBay's fixed-price purchase option, which allows buyers to purchase items without bidding.
MercExchange, a small Virginia company, sought an injunction to prevent eBay from using the technology. The company's founder, patent lawyer Thomas Woolston, had come up with the idea of using an electronic network of consignment stores that would ensure legitimacy of sales by taking possession of the goods being offered.
A jury had sided with MercExchange, finding that its patent had been infringed, and awarded the patent-holder $35 million. A trial judge later reduced the award by $5.5 million. The Supreme Court ruling does not affect the judgment against eBay.
An appeals court said that MercExchange was entitled to an injunction. But eBay and other high-tech companies had told the Supreme Court that patent-holding companies could use the threat of court injunctions to coerce larger firms into settling lawsuits for huge sums of money.
In a brief opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said that neither the district court nor appeals court that had considered the eBay case "fairly applied ... traditional equitable principles" in deciding MercExchange's motion for a permanent injunction.
A judge must now consider whether an injunction is appropriate in the case.
Although the decision was unanimous, some justices wrote to explain their votes.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote an opinion that was joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote an opinion that was joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter and Stephen Breyer.
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People put their hand on the bible, and swear to uphold the constitution. They do not put their hand on the constitution, and swear to uphold the bible.
posted on May 15, 2006 10:20:31 PM
Ahh, some good news. I have been checking the Supreme Court opinions every couple of day's to see when they made a ruling. Here's a link to the Supreme Court ruling in PDF format.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein