Free for a Fee

Earlier this year, online retailer Newegg knocked out a software patent that would reach the heights of infamy only after its death—a patent claiming to own the idea of an online “shopping cart.” Soverain Software had used that patent (and a few others) to score untold tens of millions in royalty payments. Its fully fleshed-out website is an empty husk, with phone numbers and e-mail addresses that do nothing. At trial, the company admitted to never having made a sale. Soverain is a group of lawyers who hold a batch of patents.Newegg’s victory over Soverain was total; the patents wiped out were key to the troll’s success.more