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Technology Stocks : Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gerald Walls who wrote (1406)	5/20/1999 5:32:00 PM
From: TAPDOG	Respond to of 2743

To anyone: Is selling mutual funds - not managing them like Fidelity, Dreyfus, etc. -a high profit business? There are plenty of good companies already selling mutual funds on the net: EGRP, SCH, etc. These transactions are commission free.

To: Gerald Walls who wrote (1406)	5/20/1999 5:44:00 PM
From: Danny	Respond to of 2743

"Wouldn't PCLN have to become a registered security dealer?" Do you see any reason why they are not allowed to do that? I am not an expert at all on this subject except hearing from a number of sources indicating that PCLN is trying to put a foot in the finanical market. Thanks.

To: Gerald Walls who wrote (1406)	5/20/1999 5:59:00 PM
From: Tom Hua	Respond to of 2743

Gerald, as many have pointed out on this thread, PCLN's patent for the "name your own price" model will no doubt be challenged and the patent thrown out. In reality, PCLN's patent may be interferring with a prior patent of the same concept. Regards, Tom On January 6, 1999, priceline.com received notice that a third party patent applicant and patent attorney, Thomas G. Woolston, purportedly had filed in December 1998 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office a request to declare an "interference" between a patent application filed by Woolston describing an electronic market for used and collectible goods and priceline.com's core buyer-driven commerce patent. Priceline.com has received a copy of a Petition for Interference from Woolston, the named inventor of at least three United States Patent applications titled "Consignment Nodes," one of which has issued as a patent. Priceline.com currently is awaiting information from the Patent Office regarding whether it will initiate an interference proceeding concerning Woolston's patent application and priceline.com's core buyer-driven commerce patent. Woolston recently announced an agreement to license his issued patent and pending patent applications to the owner of an Internet travel service that, according to such announcement, commenced on-line operations in the fourth quarter of 1998 and purports to compete with priceline.com. If an interference is declared and thereafter resolved in favor of Woolston, such resolution could result in an award of some or all of the disputed patent claims to Woolston. If, following such award, Woolston were successful in a patent infringement action against priceline.com, including prevailing over all defenses available to priceline.com such as those of non-infringement and invalidity, this could require priceline.com to obtain licenses from Woolston at a cost which could significantly adversely affect priceline.com's business. If Woolston prevailed in both an interference and an infringement action, then priceline.com could be enjoined from conducting business through the priceline.com service to the extent covered by the patent claims awarded to Woolston. In addition, defense of the interference action may be expensive and may divert management attention away from priceline.com's business.