From - Fri Dec 31 04:46:53 1999 X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 Message-ID: <386C3521.38FD0A0D@sable.demon.co.uk> Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 04:46:25 +0000 From: Tim Baverstock X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.51 [en] (X11; I; Linux 2.2.5-15 i586) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: privacy@barnesandnoble.com Subject: Amazon patent, possible workaround. Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi. Sorry this isn't the right email address, but I couldn't find anything likely-looking. I hope you can forward it appropriately. I was sorry to hear about Amazon's injunction against Barnes and Noble's Express ordering system. I hate software patents granted for obvious ideas even more than for less obvious things. Software patent examiners seem to have no proper understanding of the software industry's speed of development, and how damaging almost all software patents are to the public interest, pertinently, Amazon's. (Which serves only Amazon's interests.) Having (quickly) read the text of the injunction, you may be able to work around it as follows: 1. Your shopping basket system should be the basis for your Express ordering, since it can already retrieve prior order information. 2. Express ordering should be replaced by a consolidating order system, where any ordering done before the close of business each day will automatically fall into the basket, without the basket-checking stage, but probably with an acknowledgement pop-up for each click. This will be an enhancement over Amazon's system, which I believe causes postal costs to be charged for each item, individually shipped. Consolidating at close-of-business (however you define that) will save postage. 3. Your shopping basket should offer an option (for existing customers) to upgrade the basket to an `order consolidating' basket in perpetuity. 4. Customers will obviously have to be able to update their details when it becomes necessary. Presumably the consolidating order system can highlight such a situation when necessary - the server could send a page whose single-click link will actually lead to some administrative page or other. 5. Any orders unfulfilled at close of business (eg out of print booksearch) should remain in the basket, to be consolidated with subsequent orders. If an out of print book happens to become available at the same time as an in-print order is dispatched, the out of print book should be dispatched at the same time. 6. You could arrange to consolidate orders from your different country websites, at the customer's option. I'm putting a copy of this email somewhere on the web, for datestamp purposes, in case this turns out to be patentable in the twisted minds of software patent examiners, and I need to prove I had the idea first.. :) A response would be nice, particularly if this is useful to you, but I understand that you're in the middle of legal stuff and may be unable. Cheers, Tim Baverstock.