Submission + - Judge Permits eBay's 'Buy It Now' Feature
stalebread writes: "The Associated Press reports: A federal judge denied on Friday a request from a small Virginia company to stop the online auction powerhouse eBay from using its "Buy It Now" feature, which allows shoppers to purchase items at a fixed price.
Judge Jerome B. Friedman of Federal District Court denied a motion by the Virginia company, MercExchange, for a permanent injunction to stop eBay from using the feature. The Supreme Court ruled last year that, although eBay infringed upon MercExchange's patent for the service, it was up to the lower court to decide whether eBay had to stop using it. "MercExchange has utilized its patents as a sword to extract money rather than as a shield to protect its right to exclude or its market share, reputation, good will, or name recognition, as MercExchange appears to possess none of these," he wrote."
