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Netflix Screens Patent Controversy

By Xenia P. Kobylarz
April 27, 2006

The patent dispute between online DVD rental rivals Netflix Inc. and Blockbuster Inc. not only pits two big-name competitors against each other, but it also highlights the ongoing debate over Internet business-method patents.

For years, Congress and legal scholars have argued over what sort of innovation qualifies for legal protection and whether patents should be issued for online business processes. Critics contend that most online processes currently winning patents are neither novel nor innovative. Worse, they argue, some of these patents are so broad that anyone is liable to end up infringing.

Several sizeable judgments in high-profile litigation ' including the $35 million award to patent holding company MercExchange from eBay over a patent involving auction technology and fixed-price trading ' have created a corporate and public backlash against Internet patents.

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