Patent Office Re-Examines Amazon’s ‘One Click’

USA Today reports on the attempts of a disgruntled customer to overturn the patent for “one-click” online shopping owned by Amazon. After the late arrival of a book he purchased, Kiwi Peter Calveley’s raised $2,520 through his blog for the fee to request the Patent Office to go back and look at the patent again. The USA Today say:

Amazon’s patent was highly controversial during the tech boom of the late 1990s, when several other online businesses claimed it was overly broad and that the technology wasn’t very original.

In 1999, Amazon obtained an injunction that forced rival bookseller Barnes & Noble.com to go to two clicks — first on the item, then a separate click that confirmed the customer wanted to buy it. That case was eventually settled out of court.

Calveley cited a 1998 patent for a system called “Digicash,” by which people could purchase items online with a single click.

USATODAY.com