Amazon.com Wins Patent Case Amid Related Debate

"An appeals court on Monday said a feature on Amazon.com's Web site that streamlines the process of online shopping does not infringe on a Virginia inventor's patent. But the federal court declined Amazon's request to recover attorneys' fees from the inventor.

A panel of judges on the nation's special court for patent appeals affirmed a Virginia district court's earlier judgment on the invalidity of several elements of the Virginian's patent.

But the three judges reversed another part of a 2004 ruling by federal District Judge Leonie Brinkema that said Amazon, represented by Kirkland & Ellis, was entitled to the legal fees."

This article appeared in its entirety in the November 22, 2005 edition of the National Journal.