Be Careful What You Wish For… The Latest Absurd Lawsuit
By Anna Johnson on July 18th, 2008If you’re a small, startup etailer and offer your customers the ability to create a wish list… you may just qualify to be sued by Channel Intelligence.
Tech Crunch reports that on Tuesday, Florida-based company, Channel Intelligence, filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against a long list of startups and others who offer “wish lists” for products people may want others to buy for them.
Notably, Channel Intelligence seems to be suing everyone EXCEPT the major online retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart and others, who are likely to be the biggest “offenders” (if the lawsuit is to be taken seriously).
Presumably, Channel Intelligence has chosen not to battle those with substantial legal budgets, who could potentially drag out the litigation and kill Channel Intelligence with legal fees before it’s even able to bring its case! A more cynical view, however, is that Channel Intelligence is choosing easy targets for a lawsuit that has little substance.
Of course, I shouldn’t say that. The lawsuit may well be justified based on U.S. patent law. But how the online version of a wish list – which has surely been used by everyone from kids who have left out notes out for Father Christmas to large off-line department stores – meets the criteria of a patent (unique, innovative, etc) I don’t know…
