The Supreme Court Patent Decision is Making a Difference

A patent troll's request for an injunction has been denied by a federal court.

The new standards put in place when the supreme court slapped down the patent court over it's "enjoin everything and everything is novel" standards are starting to have an effect.

It now appears that the patent troll's suit against ebay over "buy it now" is one of the first impacted by the new standards.>

Ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether an injunction is necessary in the long-running spat, U.S. District Judge Jerome Friedman in Norfolk, Va., ruled Friday that awarding monetary damages alone to MercExchange is enough to compensate any harms it experienced as a result of eBay's infringement.

That's in large part because the two-man Virginia company has shown public willingness to license its patents to eBay before, during and after the trial, suggesting money is its primary motive, Friedman wrote.

"MercExchange's modus operandi appears to be to seek out companies that are already market participants that are infringing, or potentially infringing, on MercExchange's patents and negotiate to maximize the value of a license, entered into as a settlement to, or avoidance of, litigation," Friedman wrote.

He also added that the firm "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, goodwill, or name recognition, as MercExchange appears to possess none of these."

I love that little slam against MercExchange when the judge says it has no reputation or goodwill.

It's nice to see a bit of sanity returning to IP. Folks like MercExchange are pirates in the old school sense that they sit across trade routes and steal from people who take them.