EBay hit with US$3.8bn patent lawsuit

EBay is being sued for US$3.8 billion in a trade secret and patent infringement case filed by XPRT Ventures.

The online auction site is being sued by the US-based XPRT which alleges that eBay is making merry with its patents, and suggests that the technology was used to produce lucrative money spinners like PayPal.

According to a statement from XPRT, eBay filed a patent application entitled 'Method and System to Automate Payment for a Commerce Transaction', and in doing so validated the patent rights of XPRT.

XPRT claims that eBay used its proprietary information to "modify and incorporate PayPal into its e-commerce platform and to roll out several features incorporated into eBay's payment systems".

These features, it said, included PayPal Pay Later, PayPal Buyer Credit, PayPal's Balance Manager Service and the Checkout payment system.

XPRT is seeking a minimum of US$3.8bn in monetary damages, and said that it had filed its own patents up to two years before eBay.

An eBay spokesperson said the firm is currently reviewing the complaint filed yesterday. "We believe it is without merit, and intend to defend ourselves vigorously," they added.