Supreme Court agrees to hear eBay appeal in MercExchange case
MercExchange’s battle with eBay continues as the US Supreme Court agrees to hear an appeal from eBay. The back and forth battle stems from MercExchange’s claim that three of its patents were deliberately violated by eBay. In the latest appeal, eBay is not arguing the actual merits of the patent, but rather on whether District Courts have the power to grant injunctions of lower courts.
MercExchange claims that its three patents 5845265, 60865176 and 6202051 have been violated by eBay. The patents are for auction-related business processes that same believe are too broad and should never have been granted in the first place. eBay claims that MercExchange doesn’t actually make anything and exists only to hold and enforce patents. The United States Patent Office is taking another look at the validity of MercExchange’s patents.
A lower court threw out one of the patent claims, but ruled in MercExchange’s favor with the other two patents. The patents cover eBay’s Buy-It-Now feature which allows bidders to instantly purchase auction items. This accounts for a full third of eBay’s revenue and MercExchange wanted an injunction to force eBay to the bargaining table.
Historically courts have immediately issued injunctions if a company loses a patent infringement case. For a company the size of eBay, this could mean the loss of billions of dollars. eBay wants injunctions to be decided on a case by case basis.
- ussupremecourt ,
- ebay ,
- appeal
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