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Ninth Anniversary of Amazon 1-Click Injunction
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Mon Dec 01, 2008 08:50 AM
from the oh-the-times-we've-had dept.
from the oh-the-times-we've-had dept.
theodp writes "Nine years ago Monday, Amazon kicked off the Holiday Season by slapping Barnes and Noble with a court injunction barring BN from using a checkout feature that Amazon said represented illegal copying of its patented 1-Click technology. 'We're pleased that Judge Pechman recognized the innovation underlying our 1-Click feature,' said Jeff Bezos in a press release. But an Appellate Court wasn't quite as impressed with Amazon's innovation. Nor were USPTO Examiners who were asked to take another look at the merits of Amazon's 1-Click patent claims. Still, 1-Click lives on, although Amazon's lawyers are currently fighting two separate rejections by USPTO Examiners, burying USPTO Examiners in paper, and employing canceling-and-refiling tactics that some may find reminiscent of Eddie Haskell's chess end-game strategy. So much for Amazon-led patent reform."
Related Stories
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USPTO Examiner Rejected 1-Click Claims As "Obvious" 195 comments
theodp writes "Faced with a duly unimpressed USPTO examiner who rejected its new 1-Click patent claims as 'obvious' and 'old and well known,' Amazon has taken the unusual step of requesting an Oral Appeal to plead its case. And in what might be interpreted by some as an old-fashioned stalling tactic, the e-tailer has also canceled and refiled its 1-Click claims in a continuation application. As it touted the novelty of 1-Click to Congress last spring, Amazon kept the examiner's rejection under its hat, insisting that 'still no [1-Click] prior art has surfaced.' The Judiciary Committee hearing this testimony included Rick Boucher (VA) and Howard Berman (CA), both recipients of campaign contributions from a PAC funded by 1-Click inventor Jeff Bezos, other Amazon execs, and their families."
[+]
Patent Reformers O'Reilly, Bezos Mum on 1-Click 48 comments
theodp writes "Brought together 7 years ago by a threatened boycott over Amazon's 1-Click patent, Tim O'Reilly and Jeff Bezos vowed to reform the U.S. patent system. So in The Register's Open Season podcast (@12:25), Andrew Orlowski finds it very ironic that news of a victory by LOTR choreographer Peter Calveley against Bezos' 1-Click patent broke as O'Reilly was once again busy trotting out Amazon-tied speakers to headline a Web 2.0 conference, this one sponsored by Fenwick & West, the prestigious law firm bested by Calveley. Orlowski notes that O'Reilly, who now counts Bezos among his investors, was oddly silent for a self-described software patent protester, especially one who once vowed to torpedo 1-Click. Equally untalkative was Bezos, who deflected questions on the damage done by Calveley's DIY legal effort, telling a Wall Street analyst to 'refer to our public filings' (although nothing on the subject appears in the 8-K and 10-Q filings). One last dose of irony — in explaining the prior art he used to reject the 1-Click claims, a USPTO Examiner cited the very same TV remote control patent that was deemed to be unsuitable in a 1-Click prior art contest run by the O'Reilly and Bezos-bankrolled BountyQuest (just last year, Amazon testified to Congress that the contest failed to find prior art for Bezos' patent)."
[+]
USPTO Reaffirms 1-Click Claims 'Old And Obvious' 80 comments
theodp writes "After USPTO Examiner Mark A. Fadok rejected Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' 1-Click Patent claims as 'old and obvious,' Amazon canceled and refiled its 1-Click claims in a continuation application as it requested an Oral Appeal, a move that smacked of a good old-fashioned stalling tactic. But the move may have backfired, as Fadok has just completed his review of the continuation app and concluded that all of the refiled 1-Click claims should be rejected, providing explanations of why the Board of Patent Appeals was wrong to reverse his earlier decision after listening to Amazon's lawyers in September. In October, USPTO Examiner Matthew C. Graham rejected most of the 1-Click claims as part of the reexam requested by LOTR actor Peter Calveley, a decision that attorneys for Amazon are currently trying to work around with some creative wordsmithing. Can't see how all of this means 'less work for the overworked Patent and Trademark Office.'"
[+]
Bezos Buries Patent Office in Paper 99 comments
theodp writes "On June 2nd, almost two-and-half years after the USPTO initiated a reexamination of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' 1-Click Patent, Amazon dumped another load of documents on the USPTO Examiner assigned to the case, asking for consideration of the 185 or so listed references and 'favorable action.' Peter Calveley, the LOTR actor whose do-it-yourself legal effort prompted the reexam, notes that he was cc'ed on 20 kg of documents that Amazon sent earlier to the USPTO as it tried to stave off last October's nonfinal rejection of all but 5 of Amazon's 26 1-Click patent claims. So much for Bezos' 2000 pledge of 'less work for the overworked Patent and Trademark Office.'"
[+]
1-Click Smacked Down Again, While Reexam Languishes 72 comments
theodp writes "Pressed on Amazon's 1-Click patent, then-USPTO Chief Q. Todd Dickinson got testy: "I make this challenge all the time. If you're aware of prior art out there that invalidates a patent that is existing, file a re-examination. We'll be happy to take a look at it." Really? It's been 3+ years since unemployed actor Peter Calveley submitted prior art that triggered a USPTO reexamination of the 1-Click patent. Still no 'final answer' from the USPTO. To put things in perspective, 1-Click inventor Jeff Bezos once proposed a three-year lifespan for patents (later retracted), let alone patent reexams. In the meantime, other patent examiners have repeatedly smacked down 1-Click — the latest (non-final) rejection was issued on Feb. 10th with Sandra Bullock's help."
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Customer Backlash? (Score:5, Insightful)
I can't imagine I'm the only one who reconsidered Amazon purchases because of things like this.
Re:Customer Backlash? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, I did reconsider Amazon purchases as this went down. But at the end of the day I shop with Amazon for the same reason I shop with WalMart -- I might have philosophical disagreements with the company, but at the end of the day they provide a damned convenient, cheap and effective way of buying what I need/want.
It's the same way I feel about FOSS vs. proprietary software -- I didn't make Linux my primary OS until it met most of my needs. I still use proprietary video drivers because they work best. I run Windows in a virtual machine on the same box because for a few (and increasingly fewer) things there is no practical complete replacement for Corel Draw or Photoshop -- well, you get the idea.
At the end of the day I need to get stuff done. If Amazon does what I need, I set aside my philosophical differences and plunk down my money. Call me a hypocrite.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You're a hypocrite. Well, maybe. But you asked me to do it.
Your argument fails because while Walmart may be more convenient than another store, Amazon is no easier than B&N or any number of internet shopping sites. Finding an alternative store is trivial on the internet.
Re:Customer Backlash? (Score:4, Funny)
Does B&N give me the option to buy with 1-click? No! See? Amazon is more convenient! :-P
Parent
Re: (Score:1)
Oh, come on now. That was obviously a joke. I've had an Amazon account for years now and I buy much more from there than just books.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes you are. Bezos could be using Amazon's profits to fund Al Qaeda operations for all I care. If the product I want is cheaper than a competitor's, I'll buy from Amazon.
Re: (Score:2)
Thats the good old "money before principles" that made the US as popular as it is worldwide today.
Re: (Score:1)
>I can't imagine I'm the only one who reconsidered Amazon purchases because of things like this.
Nope, it's been 9 years since I bought anything on Amazon. Can't say I miss it much either.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I can. This is Slashdot, remember, "News for nerds." Stuff that no one else gives a damn about.
Re: (Score:2)
And before you get the bright idea that automatic reconfiguration of websites based on past behaviour would be a good idea, check whether Amazon has a patent on it. I bet they do.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I haven't given Amazon a dime. And convenient or not, it's going to stay that way. I'm not going to feed the trolls that are mocking and destroying true innovation.
Tim O'Reilly: useful idiot (Score:3, Interesting)
Amazon was dishonest in their "patent reform", but what about Tim O'Reilly? Why doesn't anyone mention his role in this mess?
Re:Tim O'Reilly: useful idiot (Score:4, Insightful)
AC was pretty uninformative in his post about Tim O'Reilly's role in this mess. Why not elaborate, or at least provide a link?
What about Obama's role in this mess? Did he vote to deny Amazon's 1-click patent? I think not! Look at what he has done to us, and now he's going to be our president! ;)
But seriously. From a quick search on Google, it looks like Tim O'Reilly initially protested 1-click shopping, but then something changed and he joined with Jeff Bezos to reform patents. At the same time he, perhaps, dropped his stance against 1-click shopping. But if you know something more, or have a good link with an explanation it would be way more informative than simply mentioning a name in passing. Please?
(I gave up moderating this thread to ask for this, figuring that modding your comment down would do no good for anyone, so please show me the info.)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
O'reilly also sued a small group in Cork (Ireland) because they called a small conference something with "Web 2.0" in it, which O'reilly has a service mark on. O'reilly can go to hell too.
They should have copywrighted the 2 click purchase (Score:5, Funny)
Just imagine how difficult it'd be for your competitors if their customers had to click 101 times to buy anything.
Re:They should have copywrighted the 2 click purch (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
But the one click was all she copywrote (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know how you could patent a kind of interface, though. Isn't that like patenting a particular way of arranging your furniture? It's definitely not an invention, it's a way of presenting an existing invention, no?
I think that should be copyright territory, like, "Whatever you do, you can't call your system a '1-click' system", instead of what they are saying which is, "You can't use an interface that resembles our '1-click' system or functions in a similar way".
Does that make sense?
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Yes and no.
First of all, you're not talking a copyright there either. You're talking about a trademark. Again - the differences in both term, scope, use, and who runs it are important.
Second - I'm not going to wade into the software patent issue. There are lots of articles, some of them very recent and up-to-date, discussing the current state of software patents. But consider this - all patents are ways of doing something with an existing invention. The question is if that "something" is significa
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I've already patented the 1-hover purchase as well as the one-keystroke accessibility purchase. What other non-click methods can you think of?
Re: (Score:1)
Bilski (Score:3, Informative)
Doesn't the Bilski decision make Amazon's chances on appeal/re-exam pretty much dead?
Re:Bilski (Score:5, Informative)
That's more or less the point. Amazon's lawyers are using sleazeball tactics to stall the verdict at this point. As long as they keep shoving new briefs at the court, the examination will never end. I don't understand why they keep fighting it.
Perhaps its so deeply rooted in the Amazon legal department that they just don't want to give up. I'm sure being a total pain-in-the-ass is a full time job for at least a couple of lawyers, so if they give up the fight, they are out of a job. The licensing fees Amazon receives on this (Apple licenses 1-click for their online store, and I assume there must be other suckers) must be more than its costing them to drag out the inevitable, or else this makes no business sense either.
As for Bezos, it makes him look like a fool. On the one hand he's fighting for patent reform, while in the other he holds one of the most absurd patents ever granted. If he'd give up on this one, perhaps people would take his call for reform a bit more seriously. Was this the first patent he ever received? Maybe he has a sentimental attachment to it, like a woobie. Grow up, stick a copy in a scrapbook and let it go, Jeff.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, yeah. I got that wrong. They're flooding the patent office with BS paperwork, rather than a court. The sentiment is still the same; its sleazeball tactics designed to overwhelm an already overwhelmed system to delay the eventual unfavorable decision.
How much money is at stake? (Score:2, Insightful)
how can it hold up as patent anyway? (Score:1)
I thought methods couldnt be patented, and clearly this is a method. all underlying technologies are standard stuff...
do I miss the point?
Re: (Score:2)
I'm fairly sure a method can be patented. For example, you can patent a chemical process, which is arguably a method.
This would probably fall under the "trivial works" category of unsuitable.
I am a an extremely tired CS college student so don't take this as legal advice.
Re: (Score:2)
Business method patents were legal until last month. Bilski pretty much drove the nail in the coffin.
Fucktardary (Score:2, Funny)
This should be on The Onion, it's so ridiculous.
Re: (Score:2)
I shop at Barnes and Noble because they have 2-Clicks and an aloe strip.
Patently ridiculous (Score:1)
Sorry, but the whole one-click patent is just stupid. Making out that a single click of the mouse is some kind of revolutionary UI paradigm is so completely far-fetched that I'm amazed the thing was even considered by the courts in the first place.
This is a triumph of litigation, not innovation.
Re: (Score:2)
Playing devil's advocate; have any of you actually read the patent? It's still absurd, but it is more than a single phrase/title.
Woo hoo! (Score:1)
Boy am I glad we have a legal system that's easily manipulated! It would be such a shame if someone had the authority to recognize underhanded tactics that circumvented the system's ability to mete out justice by burying it in tedium and procedure.
Actually, I guess that would be pretty authoritarian if someone could just say, "Amazon, we're ruling on this and we're ruling on it now, and to hell with all your rigamarole", but wouldn't it be refreshing, in a way!
Re: (Score:2)
This has never made sense to me : (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
A bit of a side issue but I actually wrote a paper for one of my english classes for college that addressed this problem. They teach that you should write clearly and consisely and then i
Re: (Score:2)
A bit of a side issue but I actually wrote a paper for one of my english classes for college that addressed this problem. They teach that you should write clearly and consisely and then immediately following that say "and it must be a minimum of X00 words or Y pages". So even if you can get your point across clearly in 200 words you are stuck writing a 500 word essay. The paper I wrote was the first paper of the class, a little intro thing and background in writing. 500 word minimum. I titled the paper "Off
Re: (Score:2)
I am guessing that the USPTO is that way because it isn't a glamerous parking ground for inept political allies. Also, it isn't very counter intuitive if you really pause to think. Political types are most ofte
Re: (Score:2)
Why doesn't the patent office just charge fees sufficient to fund enough examiners to get anything done in a month?
Patent fees already well exceed the examiners-and-other-expenses budget.
The US government siphons off patent office revenues to fund other projects.
There is no need to raise patent fees, you could actually lower the fees and hire more examiners. You just have to actually keep the fee money in the patent office and actually spend it on processing patents. But then you'd have to actually collect
It isn't quite as simple as that (Score:5, Interesting)
Checkout in shops has always been subject to innovation. Remember the overhead pneumatic tube system to avoid having lots of cash registers and to protect against thieves? Supermarket tills have been constantly improved with innovations like conveyor belts and laser barcode readers. All of these things are patentable. Now consider the back office. Business methods are not patentable, but you don't let the competition into the back office to see how well you have integrated all your systems.
Amazon's problem is that their ingenious checkout system is in software so it cannot be patented, but also it is seen by the user so it cannot be a secret clever backoffice system. They fall between two stalls. This will inevitably discourage people from developing innovative POS systems in software, because it is far cheaper to reinvent something already known.
Solution? Yes, I have a solution. Reasonably, if a large department store introduced a pneumatic system, their competitors could follow them in around a 1-2 year timescale. What's more, they were free to visit the first one installed and look at its advantages and disadvantages. So why not allow software patents and business method patents but give them only a 2 year life from filing and a 1 year life from first commercialisation, whichever results in the earliest expiry? A year of leadership is a long time in retail.
In fact, short terms for different classes of IP seems reasonable nowadays, when books are usually remaindered in a year or so and and popular music rarely lasts more than a few months. As a first shot, how about:
At present, musicians get a ridiculously long copyright period even when they are just making derivative works, and this probably does more than anything else tobring the system into disrepute.
Re: (Score:2)
This will inevitably discourage people from developing innovative POS systems in software, because it is far cheaper to reinvent something already known.
Give me a break. Developers will *always* innovate in every field, if for no other reason than most engineers have a strong case of "Not Invented Here" syndrome. If somebody thinks that he has a better idea, he's going to code it.
Re: It isn't quite as simple as that (Score:2)
Take, for example, the Lord of the Rings movies. They involved two years of pre-production, a year of principal photography, and then three years of post-production and pickups. If copyright only applies once the finished work is registered, that leaves nearly six years for material to be stolen and used freely. On the other hand, if it applies automatically, then that takes six years off the time during whic
Bad link (Score:2)
I just wanted to say that the provided "Eddie Haskell" link is completely unreadable; it looks like some of the spam I get. Couldn't you find anything better?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
I agree, and the chess game reference was buried in that horrid formatting. As a public service, this AC will save others the trouble of digging through that link and explain the joke here:
When Eddie Haskell saw that he was about to lose the game of chess, he would upend the board and claim it was an accident. As such, he would claim that the game is not over and they would need to start again. This parallels Amazon's attempts at withdrawing and resubmitting their appeal when they sense that they are los
Re: (Score:2)
Or Comcast will just send a RST when you hit Submit, forcing you to start your post all over again...
At what point... (Score:2)
...do you ask of your legal team, is this really worth it?
...do you realize that the image you're portraying can have a negative impact on your business from a customer viewpoint?
I'm not even going to ask why Amazon feels that the single most overused computer movement (mouse click) is somehow worth millions to them to reduce it to a single click. Obviously, they don't get it.
Re: (Score:2)
Try thinking on their side of things for once...
My entire point here is this is yet again another example of something that should not be held against a patent. For starters, it takes a hell of a lot more than one mouse click to even find what I want to buy on Amazon, so how realistic is it anyway within the context of online shopping? Every e-merchant has a shopping cart of some kind and also usually has the ability to save your shipping and payment information as a convenience.
Does a gimmicky marketing "one-click" entice me to lean towards Amazon?
Perhaps mooted by XSRF and Clickjacking? (Score:2)
I'm not a security expert, but the recent Clickjacking attacks and the older Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks seem to cast doubt on the wisdom of allowing one-click order execution in general. The recommended techniques for avoiding those attacks involve requiring extra deliberate user actions to confirm that the get/post wasn't generated by a browser hack.
Amazon might do enough testing to be relatively immune, but most smaller sites would probably want to avoid one-click orders to reduce the hacking ris
Get back to business, Amazon! (Score:2, Insightful)
If you want to use your useless lawyers to something I would suggest suing some banks and fix so that you can deposit my income from you into a non-American bank account.
Ano
Don't hold your breath (Score:2)
If you have been waiting for years for Amazon to be hacked --- that tells me something about how well Amazon runs its business. If you don't check the cart before you check-out, that tell me something about you.