|
Amazon wins injunction
|
 |
December 2, 1999: 9:33 a.m. ET
Ruling bars barnesandnoble.com from using Amazon’s 1-Click technology
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A federal district judge late Wednesday granted Amazon.com a preliminary injunction, barring rival online bookseller barnesandnoble.com from using an alleged copied version of Amazon’s billing and shipping technology.
Seattle U.S. District Court Judge Marsha J. Pechman issued the preliminary injunction halting
barnesandnoble.com (BNBN) from using the alleged copycat version of Amazon’s 1-Click technology while the lawsuit is pending.
Amazon.com (AMZN) filed suit Oct. 20, claiming barnesandnoble.com illegally copied Amazon’s patented 1-Click technology. Amazon was awarded a patent for 1-Click in late September.
barnesandnoble.com, the No. 2 Internet bookseller, expressed disappointment with the preliminary injunction on Thursday, but vowed to move ahead with a new version of its billing and shipping technology.
"We do not intend to sit back and allow Amazon to stake a claim upon any technology that is widely used,” said Gus Carlson, vice president of communications at barnesandnoble.com.
"We had previously planned to launch our new ‘Express Checkout,’ which is a significant improvement over the Express Lane process now in use, after the holiday season. Given the court’s decision, we intend to launch "Express Checkout” in the next several days.
Carlson declined to elaborate on the Express Checkout feature, but said, "it will comply with the judge’s order and there will be no interruption of service for our customers.”
"The judge’s decision will not affect our performance or our ability to serve customers one iota and this will be demonstrated when ‘Express Checkout’ launches in the next several days.”
barnesandnoble.com is a joint venture of Barnes & Noble (BKS) and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, each of which own a 41 percent stake in the online bookseller’s stock. In late May, the company’s IPO raised $450 million in stock at $18 per share, selling 25 million shares, or 18 percent, of the company's 140 million total outstanding shares.
In trading Wednesday, barnesandnoble.com closed up 3/8 to 19-3/8 while Amazon declined 1/16 to 85. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
