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Technology Stocks : OnSale Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rob S. who wrote (4060)	4/12/1999 7:41:00 PM
From: Gary Wisdom	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4903

So, Rob, are you saying we should short Ebay? <ggg>

To: Rob S. who wrote (4060)	4/12/1999 7:50:00 PM
From: Brad Davies	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4903

Rob, thanks for your response, you obviously have some knowledge of patent law. It appears to me that the wording of the announcement is not consistent with your view, however. Note that the announcement says the patent was "issued to" Kaplan and his partner. It does not say that the rights have been assigned. Does that information come from a public filing? If so, are you aware of the terms of the assignment? With respect to the commercial value of the patent, I would think that there is little evidence that a claim for damages would have much merit, since not many companies are actually making money with the technology, even if they are infringing. I would think that the better strategic route for Onsale would be an injunction application, which I would guess would not likely succeed, since you need to show irreperable harm, and that money damages would not suffice. All in all, I would guess this particular issue to have little impact in the future online auction business. That, of course, is just my opinion. Ron