Amazon.com's 1-Click system allows customers to make repeat
purchases at a website with just one mouse click, storing customer
details for future use. It enforced its own patent for 1-Click in a
high-profile case against rival bookseller Barnes &
Noble.com.
But in January 2004, Virginia-based IPXL sued Amazon.com,
alleging that Amazon.com was infringing an electronic fund transfer
system patent.
In August 2004, District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that
four of the patent claims on which the suit was based were invalid
due to prior art (they were already in the public domain) and that
the fifth and final claim was invalid because it was
indefinite.
IPXL appealed, but on Monday lost its case before the US Court
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Appeals Court upheld the
findings of invalidity, and therefore did not consider whether the
1-Click feature had actually infringed upon the patent.
