1-Click

1-Click, also called one-click or one-click buying, is the technique of allowing customers to make online purchases with a single click, with the payment information needed to complete the purchase already entered by the user previously. More particularly, it allows an online shopper using an internet marketplace to purchase an item without having to use shopping cart software. Instead of manually inputting billing and shipping information for a purchase, a user can use one-click buying to use a predefined address and credit card number to purchase one or more items.

Patent

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued US 5960411  for this technique to Amazon.com in September 1999.

On May 12, 2006, the USPTO ordered a reexamination^[1] of the "One-Click" patent, based on a request filed by Peter Calveley.^[2] Calveley cited as prior art an earlier e-commerce patent and the Digicash electronic cash system.

On October 9, 2007, the USPTO issued an office action in the reexamination which confirmed the patentability of claims 6 to 10 of the patent.^[3] The patent examiner, however, rejected claims 1 to 5 and 11 to 26. In November 2007, Amazon responded by amending the broadest claims (1 and 11) to restrict them to a shopping cart model of commerce. They have also submitted several hundred references for the examiner to consider.^[4] In March 2010, the revised patent was confirmed.^[5][6][7]

In Europe, a patent application on the 1-Click ordering was filed with the European Patent Office, but was never granted.^[8]

In Canada, the Federal Court of Canada held that the One click patent could not be rejected as a pure business method since it had a physical effect. The Court remanded the application to the Canadian patent office for a reexamination.^[9]

Licensing

Apple Inc.

Amazon.com in 2000 licensed 1-Click ordering to Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) for use on its online store.^[10] Apple subsequently added 1-Click ordering to the iTunes Store^[11] and iPhoto.^[12]

Barnes & Noble

Amazon filed a patent infringement lawsuit in October 1999 in response to Barnes & Noble offering a 1-Click ordering option called "Express Lane." After reviewing the evidence, a judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering Barnes & Noble to stop offering Express Lane until the case was settled.^[13] Barnes & Noble had developed a way to design around the patent by requiring shoppers to make a second click to confirm their purchase.^[14][15] The lawsuit was settled in 2002. The terms of the settlement, including whether or not Barnes & Noble took a license to the patent or paid any money to Amazon, were not disclosed.^[16]

In response to the lawsuit, the Free Software Foundation urged a boycott of Amazon.com. The boycott was lifted in September 2002.^[17]

References

1. ^ Hutcheon, Stephen (2006-05-23). "Kiwi actor v Amazon.com". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/kiwi-actor-v-amazoncom/2006/05/23/1148150224714.html. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
2. ^ "IGDMLGD Blog". Archived from the original on 2007-06-22. http://igdmlgd.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
3. ^ "Examiner Office Action dated Oct 9, 2007 for reexamination serial number 90/007,946". USPTO. Archived from the original on 2007-06-22. http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
4. ^ "Amazon surrenders on One-Click shopping monopoly". Out-law.com. 2007-11-23. http://www.out-law.com/page-8659. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
5. ^ "Tech Flash". http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/03/amazons_1-click_patent_confirmed_following_re-exam.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
6. ^ "IGDMLGD Blog". Archived from the original on 2007-06-22. http://igdmlgd.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
7. ^ "Electronista". http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/03/10/amazon.1.click.patent.confirmed.after.four.years/. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
8. ^ "EPO revokes Amazon’s "Gift Ordering" patent after opposition hearing". European Patent Office. 2007-12-07. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090604043421/http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2007/20071207.html. Retrieved 2009-05-13. 
9. ^ Amazon.com, Inc. and The Attorney General of Canada and The Commissioner of Patents, 2010 FC 1011, October 14, 2010
10. ^ Wolverton, Troy (2000-09-18). "Apple licenses Amazon's 1-Click". CNET News.com. http://news.com.com/2100-1017-245879.html. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
11. ^ "iTunes Store Terms of Sale". Apple Inc.. http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/sales.html. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
12. ^ "iPhoto 6.0 Help: Turning 1-Click ordering on and off". Apple Inc.. Archived from the original on 2007-06-22. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iPhoto/6.0/en/oc2rem.html. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
13. ^ "Troy Wolverton, "Amazon, Barnes&Noble settle patent suit", CNET, March 6, 2002". Archived from the original on 2009-04-25. http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-854105.html. Retrieved 2009-04-20. 
14. ^ [Claim 1 of the patent is limited to orders being placed "in response to only a single action being performed"
15. ^ Tim O'Reilly blog interview with Jeff Bezos, March 2, 2000
16. ^ Wolverton, Troy (March 6, 2002). "Amazon, Barnes&Noble settle patent suit". CNET News.com. http://news.com.com/2100-1017-854105.html. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
17. ^ "(Formerly) Boycott Amazon!". GNU Project. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/amazon.html. Retrieved 2008-11-19.