eBay and MercExchange continue to wage their patent battle in the press. eBay issued a statement on March 30, 2006, stating it was pleased with the previous day's oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The company argued that it should not be made to stop using the Buy It Now feature, which a jury found infringed on a patent held by MercExchange. In yesterday's statement, eBay said, "eBay argued that trial judges ought to have the discretion - expressly granted by Congress - to award money damages to patent owners, instead of injunctions, if the facts of a particular case warrant it."
eBay is also fighting the patent battle through the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which agreed to reexamine the patent in question. eBay's press release stated that the USPTO "confirmed its earlier decision that MercExchange's U.S. Patent No. 5,845,265 is obvious and should never have issued as a patent."
MercExchange shot back with a statement to reporters warning them to review transcripts of the Supreme Court hearing where, "US Solicitor General lawyer Jeffrey Minear made the status of the MercExchange patents at the USPTO abundantly clear." It added, "After being drilled at SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States), all of eBay's eggs are in the USPTO basket. So the media should be ready for anything and skeptical about everything out of eBay mouths,..."
eBay, MercExchange and the United States government argued before the Supreme Court on Wednesday over the Appeals Court injunction ruling on eBay's Buy It Now feature. A decision is expected in June. For background on the case, visit http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/patent.
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