EBAY, whos buying now

Just a reminder, EBAY did file their 10-Q with the SEC this morning.

The legal preceeding section is about 2 pages long, which is a dream for newswires.

There will likely be a large number of headlines today that are showing all of these lawsuits and preceedings outlined below. This occurs each quarter.


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Item 1: Legal Proceedings On April 25, 2001, our European subsidiaries, eBay GmbH and eBay International AG, were sued by Montres Rolex S.A. and certain Rolex affiliates, or Rolex, in the regional court of Cologne, Germany. The suit subsequently was transferred to the regional court in Dusseldorf, Germany. Rolex alleged that our subsidiaries were infringing Rolex’s trademarks as a result of users selling counterfeit Rolex watches through our German website. The suit also alleges unfair competition. Rolex sought an order forbidding the sale of Rolex watches on the website as well as damages. In December 2002, a trial was held in the matter and the court ruled in favor of eBay on all causes of action. Rolex has appealed the ruling, but the appeal has not yet been briefed or heard. On September 26, 2001, a complaint was filed by MercExchange LLC against us, our Half.com subsidiary and ReturnBuy, Inc. in the Eastern District of Virginia (No. 2:01-CV-736) alleging infringement of three patents (relating to online auction technology, multiple database searching and electronic consignment systems) and seeking a permanent injunction and damages (including treble damages for willful infringement). We answered the complaint, denying the allegations. In April 2002, we filed four motions for summary judgment relating to the three patents in suit. The court denied three of those motions and deferred ruling on the fourth motion. A “Markman” hearing was held in July 2002 to define certain disputed terms in the patents, and in October 2002 the court issued its claim construction findings. In October 2002, the court gave us leave to amend our answer to include a claim that MercExchange committed fraud on the patent office during the prosecution of one of the patents. On the same date, the court granted in part our pending summary judgment motion, effectively invalidating the patent related to online auction technology and rendering it unenforceable. This ruling also substantially reduced MercExchange’s ability to claim damages. In November 2002, we filed two additional summary judgment motions regarding the patents. One motion was denied as moot; the other was denied because the court found there were triable issues of fact. In February 2003, we filed an additional summary judgment motion, which was subsequently denied. Only two patents remain in the case at this time. Trial of the matter began April 23, 2003. We believe we have meritorious defenses and will defend ourselves vigorously. However, even if successful, our defense against this action will be costly and could divert our management’s time. If the plaintiff were to prevail on any of its claims, we might be forced to pay significant damages and licensing fees, modify our business practices or even be enjoined from conducting a significant part of our U.S. business. Any such results could materially harm our business. We are unable to determine what potential losses we may incur if this lawsuit were to have an unfavorable outcome. On September 6, 2002, a complaint was filed by First USA Bank, N.A. against PayPal in the District of Delaware (No. 02-CV-1462) alleging infringement of two patents relating to assigning an alias to a credit card so as to eliminate the need for the physical presence of the card in a financial transaction and seeking a permanent injunction and damages. Factual discovery in the case is scheduled to end June 25, 2003, expert discovery is scheduled to take place from July to September 2003, and trial is scheduled for March 1, 2004. PayPal believes it has meritorious defenses and intends to defend itself vigorously. However, even if successful, 58 Table of Contentsour defense against this action will be costly and could divert management’s time. If the plaintiff were to prevail on its claims, PayPal might be forced to pay significant damages and licensing fees or modify its business practices. Any such result could materially harm our business. We are unable to determine what potential losses we may incur if this suit were to have an unfavorable outcome.
On August 16, 2002, Charles E. Hill & Associates, Inc., or Hill, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (No. 2:02-CV-186) alleging that we and 17 other companies, primarily large retailers, infringed three patents owned by Hill generally relating to electronic catalog systems and methods for transmitting and updating data at a remote computer. The suit seeks an injunction against continuing infringement, unspecified damages, including treble damages for willful infringement, and interest, costs, expenses and fees. In January 2003, the court granted the collective defendants’ motion to transfer the case from the court where it was filed in Marshall, Texas to the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. We believe that we have meritorious defenses and intend to defend ourselves vigorously. On February 20, 2002, PayPal was sued in California state court in a purported class action alleging that its restriction of customer accounts and failure to promptly unrestrict legitimate accounts violates state consumer protection law and is an unfair business practice and a breach of PayPal’s User Agreement. This action was refiled with a different named plaintiff on June 6, 2002, and a related action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on the same day. On March 12, 2002, PayPal was sued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in a purported class action alleging that its restrictions of customer accounts and failure to promptly unrestrict legitimate accounts violates federal and state consumer protection and unfair business practice law. The federal court has denied PayPal’s motion to compel individual arbitration as required by the PayPal User Agreement and has invalidated that provision of the User Agreement. PayPal has appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The two federal court actions have been consolidated into a single case. PayPal is defending itself vigorously, but if it is unable to prevail in these lawsuits, it may have to change its anti-fraud operations in a manner that will harm its business and pay substantial damages. Even if its defense is successful, the litigation could damage PayPal’s reputation, could require significant management time, will be costly and could require changes to its customer service and operations that could increase its costs and decrease the effectiveness of its anti-fraud program.

 

Short that bitch @ $100

- BMW

 

Too obvious...101.89 better!

 

I must admit that I have been short this "big fat pig" on and off for about 2 weeks. I am a loyal user of ebay and love the service but I think that the up trend is coming to an end soon. Once enough big sellers start taking profits the tide will change. But then again? Good Trading All