MercExchange
Encyclopedia
MercExchange is a technology development and on-line auction company. Their founder's name is Thomas G. Woolston
.
, via that auction house's "Buy It Now" feature that allow customers to bypass the normal auction procedures. In the 2003 case eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C.
, a jury found that eBay had infringed upon MercExchange's patent and that eBay's infringement caused $35 million in damages to MercExchange, later reduced to $25 million. However, in a 2006 US Supreme Court ruling, MercExchange was found to not be automatically entitled to a court order blocking use of the technology, due to no indication that 'irreparable harm' had been suffered by the company, that the company had never actually used the invention itself and that it had been more than willing to license the technology to others.
The current legal issue is whether or not MercExchange will be able to obtain a permanent injunction. As of June 2007, eBay has stated that the company has designed a workaround so that it no longer infringes on the patent and thus an injunction is unnecessary. MercExchange has stipulated it seeks to bypass a patent office review and proceed directly with the permanent injunction, which eBay counters would hurt the company's reputation, misleading potential customers into thinking it was engaged in illegal patent infringement. U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Friedman
has not stated when his ruling on the injunction will be handed down.
Thomas G. Woolston
Thomas G. Woolston is the patented inventor of several important online auction technologies. He is also the founder of MercExchange.Mr. Woolston served in the US Air Force, has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University and a law degree...
.
Licensees
The following companies have licensed MercExchange technology as of April 2007 http://www.mercexchange.com/licensed.htm- AutoTrader.comAutoTrader.comAutoTrader.com is an American automotive classified Web site operated by AutoTrader.com L.L.C.; Cox Enterprises owns 75% of the company, Providence Equity Partners owns the rest. It was founded in August of 1997 and is the largest classified automotive site in the United States...
- Channeladvisor
- uBidUBiduBid.com manages an online auction and shopping website that offers both goods sold directly by the company and items sold by pre-approved uBid Certified Merchants.-Overview:...
- Overture
- ReturnBuy
Issued US Patents
Consignment nodes Method and apparatus for using search agents to search plurality of markets for items Facilitating internet commerce through internetworked auctions Facilitating electronic commerce through two-tiered electronic markets and auctions Generating and navigating streaming dynamic pricing informationPatent dispute
MercExchange is currently engaged in a legal dispute over an alleged unauthorized use of one of its patents by eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, via that auction house's "Buy It Now" feature that allow customers to bypass the normal auction procedures. In the 2003 case eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C.
EBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C.
eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388 is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously determined that an injunction should not automatically issue based on a finding of patent infringement, but also that an injunction should not be denied simply on the basis that...
, a jury found that eBay had infringed upon MercExchange's patent and that eBay's infringement caused $35 million in damages to MercExchange, later reduced to $25 million. However, in a 2006 US Supreme Court ruling, MercExchange was found to not be automatically entitled to a court order blocking use of the technology, due to no indication that 'irreparable harm' had been suffered by the company, that the company had never actually used the invention itself and that it had been more than willing to license the technology to others.
The current legal issue is whether or not MercExchange will be able to obtain a permanent injunction. As of June 2007, eBay has stated that the company has designed a workaround so that it no longer infringes on the patent and thus an injunction is unnecessary. MercExchange has stipulated it seeks to bypass a patent office review and proceed directly with the permanent injunction, which eBay counters would hurt the company's reputation, misleading potential customers into thinking it was engaged in illegal patent infringement. U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Friedman
Jerome B. Friedman
Jerome B. Friedman is a United States federal judge. He assumed senior status on November 30, 2010.Born in Newark, New Jersey, Friedman received a B.S. from Old Dominion College in 1965, and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1969. He was a Trust administrator, First Union...
has not stated when his ruling on the injunction will be handed down.