Actor forces Amazon patent rethink

Peter Calveley, was so miffed that he got an "annoyingly slow" book delivery from Amazon that he decided to take them to the cleaners.

Calveley has done a bit of research and convinced the US Patent Office that there might be some prior art on the web firm's 'one click' claim. The campaigner managed to raise $2,520 to pay the re-examination fee through his bog, here.

He said that the Patent Office had given a patent for similar technology called "Digicash," by which people could purchase items online with a single click was issued in March 1998, about 18 months before Amazon's.

The Patent Office admitted Calveley had raised a substantial question about the appropriateness of Amazon's patent.

Amazon says it is confident it will prove that validity of the patent.

It might have avoided the whole kerfuffle had it its pony express links with New Zealand been a bit faster. µ

L'INQS
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The bog