The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal by eBay in a closely watched patent case and said it would revisit the rules for granting injunctions against patent-infringing companies, writes the New York Times. The disputed patents enable the processing of transactions for eBay's fixed-price purchasing feature. The issue, according to eBay, is whether the federal circuit court's rule correctly interprets federal patent law, which it says authorizes judges - but does not require them to - grant injunctions.
A federal court jury in 2003 found that eBay was violating three patents owned by MercExchange, but Judge Jerome B. Friedman refused to issue an injunction barring eBay from continuing to use the patented methods because MercExchange "exists solely to license its patents or sue to enforce its patents, and not to develop or commercialize them."
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the district court's decision and ruled that MercExchange was entitled to the injunction, but the court granted a stay to permit eBay to file its Supreme Court appeal, (eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, No. 05-130).
