Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 138 posts

Re: How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail

#62

Post by mark-r »

csense wrote: post #42
NelsonMinar wrote: post #8

It seems unfair somehow that our whole industry benefits from Newegg individually taking on the risk and expense of bringing a patent to litigation and appeal. Maybe more patents would be challenged if there were more cooperative efforts to bust bad patents.

Maybe we should set up a tradition of patent-busting bounties. I.e. when Victoria's Secret gets hit with $10 million a year in royalties (or whatever the number was), they can say "We're not going to fight these patents in court, but if somebody else fights them and wins, so we don't have to pay that $10 million/year royalty anymore, we'll give them a one-time $3 million payment." Victoria's Secret has an incentive t…

Great idea, but the lawyers would shoot it down immediately (if they haven't already). The terms of a settlement would just have a clause preventing them from offering such a bounty.

Re: How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail

#64

Post by lubujackson »

alex_c wrote: post #44
rohamg wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dont worry about that: developing a reputation for aggressively fighting patent trolls has the effect of dissuading trolls from targeting newegg in the first place. Trolls are likely to target others for a quick settlement rather than risk losing their golden goose at trial (as happened here).

And this long-term view is, I suspect, how NewEgg justifies the short-term risk of losing a trial. Never negotiate with terrorists.

SOYLENT TERRORISM IS CORPORATE PEOPLE!

Re: How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail

#65

Post by mfringel »

waqf wrote: post #37
arbuge wrote: post #9

Comparing patent trolls to bacteria would be an unforgivable and entirely unwarranted insult to bacteria everywhere. Even the plague bacterium deserves better. We need to see alot more of this happening - hopefully this will show people there is another way to go, i.e. never ever settle with a patent troll, no matter how scary the alternative may seem to be. 3 patents invalidated but thousands to go. It is disgusting…

You will never win by directing your anger at the people who are just responding to the incentives provided by the system.

They are willfully responding, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Re: How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail

#67

Post by DigitalJack »

lubujackson wrote: post #63

So the patents were invalidated because CompuServe did it first. The problem doesn't seem to be in any way improved. If CompuServe held the patents, this would still be a valid lawsuit, no?

Compuserve's prior art was in 1984, so if they had patents on it, they'd have expired in 2004.

I take your point though. Can you imagine having to pay royalties to Compuserve over a shopping cart in 2003?

Re: How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail

#69

Post by DigitalJack »

ams6110 wrote: post #17
s0rce wrote: post #11

I'm pretty amazed that the lawyers/consultants somehow came up with the Compuserve Mall as evidence.

Nothing is really new in software anymore. It only seems that way to people who are too young to recognize the old ideas that are being recycled.

   What has been is what will be, 
   and what has been done is what will be done, 
   and there is nothing new under the sun.

   (Ec 1:9)
Post reply on HN