Law Commons^™

Ebay Rx, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

From a remedial perspective, the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. reopened the age-old question of what it means to award equitable relief. In eBay, the Court rejected a permanent injunction issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to protect a business-method patent that defendant eBay had infringed on its successful auction website. This essay diagnoses the remedial problem in eBay as the improper use of presumptions for equitable relief that effectively prioritizes selected legal rights. It offers a prescriptive cure for the problem in the traditional balancing of the …

Ip Remedies After Ebay: Assessing The Impact On Trademark Law, Sandra Rierson

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

The Supreme Court's decision in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. changed the law regarding remedies in patent cases - specifically the "general rule... that a permanent injunction will issue once infringement and validity have been adjudged. Prior to eBay, the Federal Circuit held that injunctive relief was an inappropriate remedy for patent infringement only in a narrow category of cases in which enjoining an infringer would frustrate an important public interest. The Supreme Court rejected that assumption, holding instead that plaintiffs seeking this form of remedy for patent infringement were required to satisfy the traditional, four-factor test for injunctive relief. …

Rights And Remedies Post Ebay V. Mercexchange - Deep Waters Stirred, Robert I. Reis

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

eBay confirms the adage that good things often come in small packages. The court concisely focused on the inherent requirements of discretionary equitable relief in the use of injunctive remedies. The opinion informed that categorical presumptions based on presumed incidents of property rights did not satisfy the requirements of appropriate discretionary consideration. The four prongs of the requisite test "restated" for issuance of an injunction imposed the burden of proof on the plaintiff and all four factors which follow be deliberated by the court: (1) a finding of irreparable injury, (2) a finding of inadequate remedy at law for compensation, …

The Effects Of Ebay: Discretion, Statutory Damages, And Private Attorneys-General, Liam O'Melinn

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

If it were not already an apt time to consider the effects of the Supreme Court's eBay v. MercExchange decision, several recent developments serve as reminders of the importance of the issues addressed in the case: In Capitol v. Thomas the recording industry has succeeded in securing a $222,000 judgment in statutory damages for copyright infringement, a software patent infringement suit was filed in October 2007 by IP Innovation and Licensing against Novell and Redhat-seemingly the first suit to target Linux-and the PTO has rejected most of the claims in Amazon's 1-Click patent.

The eBay decision appears to assert that …

Constructed And Enhanced Equities Under Ebay: Whose Right Is It Anyway?, Richard S. Gruner

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

This article treats the injunction issuance standards announced in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, LLC, as the starting point for patent enforcement planning by sophisticated clients and their patent and corporate attorneys. The eBay standards imply a set of circumstances in which a patent holder will be well-positioned to obtain a patent enforcement injunction, circumstances that patent holders may be able to reach through well-crafted strategic moves. This article explores the actions that a pure licensee patent holder can take to improve its position and establish "constructed equities" that will enhance its chances of obtaining a patent enforcement injunction.

Truth In Intellectual Property Revisited: Embracing Ebay At The Edge, Thomas C. Folsom

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

In addition to whatever else it might do to serve the public interest, intellectual property diminishes the commons. To that extent, any particular intellectual property claim intersects the public interest and affects more than just the immediate parties. Not only does intellectual property diminish the commons, but also each of its disciplines contains an almost casually incoherent metaphysic. There is incoherence, if not at the core, at least at the critical edges of intellectual property law that is systemic and fundamental. Notwithstanding over 200 years of practice in the United States, the goal of establishing a sufficiently principled, practical and …

Opening The Door To Efficient Infringement: Ebay, Inc. V. Mercexchange, L.L.C., Sheri J. Engelken

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

Before the Supreme Court's decision in eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., the Federal Circuit's "general rule" held sway: after a finding of patent infringement, trial courts were expected to issue permanent injunctions to halt any continuing infringement "absent exceptional circumstances." That general rule was intended to protect a patentee's right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or offering to sell the invention during the monopoly period enjoyed by the patentee. The Supreme Court in eBay rejected the Federal Circuit's general rule, placing the determination of whether and on what terms, if any, to grant a permanent injunction in …

Ebay's Practical Effect: Two Differing Visions, Jay Dratler Jr.

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

This short paper examines the likely effect of the Court's three opinions on the actual practice of intellectual property cases in their remedial phase. The first part briefly discusses the unanimous opinion and its likely economic effect in increasing the already daunting complexity-and therefore the already considerable cost-of intellectual property litigation. The second part examines the first concurring opinion and the effect of its implicit suggestion that nothing much has really changed. The third part examines the possible practical effect of the second concurring opinion. The conclusion then offers a few general observations on where remedial practice in patent cases …

Ebay And The Blackberry: A Media Coverage Case Study, Lisa A. Dolak, Blaine T. Bettinger

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

This paper centers on media coverage relating to eBay and related patent system developments. In particular, it provides a quantitative comparison between media coverage of eBay and that relating to another recent patent case: the litigation between NTP, Inc. and Research in Motion, Ltd. involving the popular BlackBerry® handheld wireless communications device, and examines the extent and nature of the NTP-related coverage in light of the co-pendency of the two cases and the issues they share in common. In so doing, it facilitates consideration of the experience of news coverage consumers - including, presumably, Supreme Court Justices - while eBay …

Injunctive Relief In The Itc Post Ebay, John F. Rabena, Kim E. Choate

Akron Intellectual Property Journal

The Supreme Court's decision in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange drastically changed the bargaining landscape for patent owners and accused infringers. Gone is the default threat of an injunction, at least for disputes that are limited to district court enforcement. Some expect the impact of eBay to usher patent owners to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in situations where jurisdiction can be met, because the ITC escapes eBay's mandate. But injunctive relief in the ITC is not foolproof. Both patent owners and accused infringers need to know the pitfalls that loom in the ITC's injunctive procedures.