eBay Inc. has agreed to a settlement with MercExchange, LLC to dismiss all claims and appeals stemming from the patent lawsuit filed by MercExchange in September of 2001. eBay Inc. and MercExchange had been engaged in litigation over MercExchange’s patents and eBay’s online auctions and fixed price-related ecommerce operations.

As part of the settlement, eBay will purchase all three patents involved in the lawsuit, as well as some additional related technology and inventions and a license to another search-related patent portfolio that was not asserted in the lawsuit. These assets will allow eBay to further enhance its operations and trust and safety efforts on its ecommerce sites.

Further terms of the settlement are confidential and were not disclosed.

Originally posted on February 28, 2008 @ 1:35 pm

Another trouble is brewing at eBay. Its irate sellers are plotting a strike against the company’s “unfair” policies such as increasing fees and preventing them from sending negative feedbacks to customers.

The weeklong organized protest is slated in February 18 to 25 to preempt the initial implementation of new policies in February 20. The attacks are seen in several fronts from eBay’s own forum to social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube.

Acting tough, eBay shows an unfazed stance on this alarming strike. According to its spokesman Usher Lieberman:

We have a passionate community, and we are not surprised to hear them voicing concern. However, when our sellers have had ample opportunity to evaluate the entire package we now offer and consider the traffic and trading velocity we deliver every day, we are confident that they will conclude eBay remains their best business partner.

Unfortunately, the previous strikes organized by sellers were futile due to lack of unity. As expected, many greedy sellers will take advantage of this opportunity to increase sales while others remain loyal to eBay.

Will this end just like those other failed attempts or can it deliver a blow powerful enough to hurt the auction giant’s operations and heed it to listen to their demands?

Via CNN Money

Originally posted on February 11, 2008 @ 4:20 am

After a decade in the driver seat of online auction giant eBay, beleaguered CEO Meg Whitman is thinking about retirement amid the company’s sluggish growth.

According to WSJ, people familiar with the situation said she has been delegating her tasks to subordinates for the last few months and will be announcing her final decision in a few weeks. John Donahue, the president of eBay’s Marketplaces or the auction unit, is the leading candidate to replace Whitman, if the rumors are true.

Retirement or resignation usually happens when you fail to impress the all-profit stockholders. Although she is credited for making eBay a global success, her recent leadership was questioned for the current slowdown and the controversial $1.4 billion write-down for not generating enough ROI on the popular VoIP company, Skype.

Maybe Whitman is right when she said no chief executive must stay in power for more than a decade. Perhaps it’s time to give other guys the reins in this global online business.

Originally posted on January 22, 2008 @ 11:59 am