OT: eBay being sued over patent infringement (et al)

From: Doc Shipley <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
Date: Thu Apr 24 14:09:00 2003

On Thursday, April 24, 2003, at 01:53 PM, Patrick Rigney wrote:
> What are the real merits of this case? I know Jerry Kaplan founded
> OnSale
> in 1994. I haven't read the patent, but I know that eBay is not
> unique in
> what it is doing, and it wasn't the first. Whether or not we LIKE
> eBay, it
> may be worth considering how the service would change if they lost the
> suit,
> and how this would affect ALL similar sites, including Yahoo, DoveBid,
> etc.

   I don't have any details, but I can say that one of the plaintiffs
also holds patent to several processes basic to PayPal, and eBay is
paying royalties on those with no argument. He developed iEscrow as
well. I'm _guessing_, based on those facts, that David's claim, at
least, isn't frivolous.

   Please don't ask me for any details past the above -- I won't give
them, for several obvious reasons.

        Doc
Received on Thu Apr 24 2003 - 14:09:00 BST