A decade ago Amazon.com sued Barnes and Noble over their use of “1-Click” buying. Critics argued that clicking once to order a book wasn’t really an invention, nor was not worthy of a patent.

The case became the leading example of a patent system gone wild.

The tables have turned and now Amazon.com finds itself at the receiving end of a lawsuit regarding “1-click” purchases.

“Amazon is defending itself against Cordance Corp., a company that claims it filed for its patent on 1-click ordering before Amazon’s application. “

“This is the hard lesson that Amazon learned and that a lot of software companies learn. You think these patents are great when you own them, but really it’s a minefield.”

Even more ironically, it may help Amazon’s case that its 1-click patent was the target of so much criticism a decade ago.”

Tim O’Reily, the well known tech-industry publisher, had a major bone to pick with the bookseller’s patent. He called it “an attempt to hoodwink a patent system that has not gotten up to speed on the state of the art in computer science.”He even put out a $10,000 bounty for anyone who could come up with “prior art — information, technology, or legal documents that was already public — to prove it wasn’t an invention and bust the patent.”

“Angry techies turned up a mountain of prior art, (but) they couldn’t invalidate the patent, though it is now being re-examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. However in Amazon’s suit against Barnes & Noble, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned an injunction Amazon had won, saying that Barnes & Noble had “raised substantial questions as to the validity” of the 1-click patent.”

Amazon is going to be able to use all of the prior art that was used against them to take down Cordance’s patent.

One of the main pieces of prior art that Amazon’s lawyers at Fenwick are arguing invalidates Cordance’s patent is from a company called First Virtual Holdings, which came up with a virtual PIN that allowed online customers to buy things with a single click. Although it’s not clear whether that prior art was officially used against the Amazon patent, it was mentioned in Web forums by techies trying to invalidate it.

Check out the original article: A Decade Later, Amazon Finds Itself on Other Side of ‘1-Click’ Patent Battle

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Membership Agreements are necessary to become a part of an affiliate program. Affiliate programs extremely popular with online marketers. Almost every store or service provider with an Internet portal or presence (”advertiser”) that offers products (e.g. Netflix, Amazon, and Best Buy for starters) runs an affiliate program. An affiliate is one who promotes another websites products or services and receives a commission from the advertiser every time a user is referred to their site from the affiliate’s marketing efforts. To become an affiliate member, one must register with the advertiser’s program and consent to the terms and conditions of its programs.

The conditions of membership agreements usually address certain issues. For starters, the affiliate must have a website, and must agree not to promote sexually explicit material, violence, illegal activities, or discrimination. The affiliate’s website and its promotional methods must be approved by the advertiser. The agreement should also address how much the affiliate will get paid for each referral, and how often the affiliate receives payment. It is common for advertisers to pay out on Net-15 basis, which means the affiliate gets paid on the 15th of each month.

The agreement should also advise the affiliate as to how the affiliate receives compensation. Most affiliate programs today payout affiliates on a Cost-Per-Action or “CPA” basis, meaning the affiliate only gets paid if the user buys the advertiser’s product, signs up for the advertiser’s service, or takes another action that the advertiser desires the user to take. Some advertiser’s still pay affiliates on a Cost-Per-Click or “CPC” basis, meaning the affiliate will receive a commission for each user who clicks on the advertiser’s banner or text link and is referred to the advertiser’s website, regardless of whether a purchase is made.

Finally, the membership agreement should address the advertiser’s policy on keyword bidding. Some advertisers prohibit affiliates from bidding on keywords without their express written permission. Other advertisers allow bidding on keywords, however, most do not allow affiliates to bid on the advertiser’s trademark or any misspellings of the trademark. Often, the affiliate may not bid on the trademark of the advertiser’s partners either.

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com.
SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Technology is now taking over law schools as law professors and publishing execs are planning a big pow-wow over how legal casebooks could be made available electronically on a widespread basis. They may even become accessible via Amazon’s Kindle and the Sony Reader.

According to the electronic casebook supporters, “it would lighten a students heavy load and allow professors to customize the materials they require in their courses.”

However, the upcoming meeting is to discuss legalities including the concerns about copyrights and the ability to protect electronic casebooks from piracy.

Popularity: 4% [?]