A Washington Appeals Court will hear arguments today and it must
then decide whether to lift a pre-trial injunction of ten months
ago, blocking Barnes & Noble.com from using the on-line
shopping business method in what it called its “Express Lane”
feature. This case is being seen as the first significant internet
patent battle to reach the Appeals Court stage.
When the US Patent and Trademark Office granted Amazon.com a
patent for its 1-Click business method, critics said the method was
as obvious as the common wallet in traditional shopping – and that
Amazon.com did not deserve a patent for it. In Europe, it is not
possible to obtain patents for business methods.
