News Verdict Alters eBay Methods

From Wired:

A $29.5 million verdict in a patent-infringement lawsuit against eBay will bring changes in how the Internet auction house conducts sales of fixed-price merchandise.

An eBay attorney said the company still believes the patents belonging to Virginia inventor Thomas G. Woolston are invalid, but nonetheless plans to implement design changes that will avoid infringing on them in the future.

On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered the award paid to Woolston and his Great Falls, Va., company, MercExchange. In May, a federal jury in Norfolk found that eBay willfully infringed on Woolston's patents with features like eBay's Buy It Now option, which offers a way for people to buy auction items at a fixed price.

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