The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow (Wednesday) in a patent case in which small ecommerce company MercExchange will square off against auction giant eBay to wage a battle that has connotations for the future of the U.S. patent system, writes ComputerWorld. The Court will decide whether eBay should be barred from using its "Buy it now" feature, which allegedly infringes on two MercExchange patents.

The importance of the case lies in whether the Supremes will scale back the right of patent holders to get an injunction barring alleged infringers from using the technologies at issue. Software companies say they can be held hostage by questionable patents, whereas drug makers oppose weakening of patent rights that spur investment in new medicines.

In the current case specifically, the issue is whether a decision by a federal court of appeals upholding an injunction imposed on eBay will in turn be upheld by the high court. Some of the largest U.S. software companies have filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting eBay.