Judge: eBay Can Still Use 'Buy it Now'

A Virginia District Court Judge sided with eBay on Friday, allowing it to continue to use the "Buy it Now" feature, which is at the center of a patent dispute with MercExchange.

eBay lost a Supreme Court ruling last year that found it guilty of patent infringement. However, the high court declined to rule on whether or not an injunction to prevent the future use of the technology should be enforced, leaving that up to the lower court.

U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Friedman said in his ruling that he did not find that MercExchange suffered irreparable harm since it was already making money through the licensing of its patents or by settling with companies it threatened with lawsuits.

MercExchange won a $25 million federal court case against eBay in 2003. The larger auction site ended up fighting the ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. Some argued that the case showed the need for patent reform, as MercExchange is essentially a patent holding company with no actual business based on the patents it owns.

Both sides expressed pleasure with the ruling. MercExchange's attorney told the Associated Press that the judge's ruling was a "double-edged sword," but noted it still forced eBay to pay for its patents. eBay said in a statement it was "extremely pleased."