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Judge orders eBay to pay $29.5 million
NORFOLK, Virginia (AP) -- A federal judge Wednesday ordered online auction house eBay to pay $29.5 million to a Virginia inventor who accused the company of stealing his ideas. But U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman said he would not require the Internet giant to abandon the disputed technology in the case, saying lawyers for plaintiff Thomas G. Woolston failed to show that he would suffer irreparable harm if the court did not issue an injunction. Friedman warned eBay that if infringing on Woolston's patents continued, he would be "more inclined" to award enhanced damages. Both sides appealingA Norfolk federal jury decided in May that eBay infringed on Woolston's patents, which presented a way for people to buy items over the Internet for a fixed price. Specifically, the jury said that eBay's "Buy It Now" option, which allows auction surfers to do the same thing, infringed on Woolston's ideas. Both sides said Wednesday they would appeal the judge's ruling. "We're going to appeal the refusal to grant an injunction, but that said, eBay has definitely been put on notice about what could happen if it continues to infringe," said Greg Stillman, an attorney for MercExchange, Woolston's Great Falls, Virginia-based company. He said he was pleased with the financial award. Jay Monahan, eBay's vice president for litigation, said the company still believes Woolston's patents are invalid, but is planning to implement design changes that will avoid infringing on them. He said the changes should be easily accomplished and invisible to users, but declined to disclose details. The company would do "whatever we believe is necessary to avoid infringement," Monahan said. No affect to primary auctionFriedman's award is less than the $35 million that the jury recommended at the end of the five-week trial earlier this year. Because the jury found that the violation was willful, the judge could have tripled the jury's award. In Wednesday's ruling, he wrote that there was "insufficient basis" to do that. The jury award does not affect eBay's primary auction bidding system. In his original suit, Woolston claimed that the entire auction house infringed on his patents, but Friedman dismissed those claims. Instead, the case hinged on how eBay sells fixed-price merchandise, which accounts for roughly 26 percent of the auction house's total sales. San Jose, California-based eBay is one of the few winners from the dot-com bubble and one of the Internet's great business successes. The company expects 2003 revenue of $2.75 billion and had 75.3 million users at the end of July, a 51 percent jump from the previous year. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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