Dive Brief:
- A federal appeals court ruled in favor of Victoria’s Secret Direct Brand Management, LLC and Avon Products Inc, reversing a previous verdict saying that the Avon unit had infringed upon Soverain Software’s virtual shopping cart patents.
- Soverain Software’s patents were invalidated in a previous case filed against Newegg, Inc. and two of the three patents in question were determined to be an obvious variation on CompuServe technologies.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit says Soverain should not be allowed to revisit the issue.
Dive Insight:
Last month’s ruling comes as a relief to dozens of e-commerce concerns that Soverain Software has filed suits against, including Best Buy, eBay Inc., Home Depot, J. Crew, Macy’s and Drugstore.com. The decision reverses a previous ruling against Avon and Victoria’s Secret awarding Soverain $17.9 million for patent infringement.
The most recent ruling judged Soverain’s patents invalid on the grounds of obviousness, and says that the company should be prevented from arguing the case again. Soverain is widely regarded as a “patent troll,” whose purpose is to bring lawsuits like these. While many companies choose to settle out of court, Soverain's first loss came against online electronics retailer Newegg in 2013.