Amazon pays $40 million in patent settlement
Online retailer makes one-time payment to settle dispute with Soverain Software over shopping-cart technology.
Amazon.com announced in a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has settled a patent dispute by making a one-time payment of $40 million to Soverain Software, a Chicago-based e-commerce company. The terms of the settlement also provide for dismissal of all claims and counterclaims and grant Amazon a nonexclusive license to Soverain's patent portfolio, the filing said.
Soverain originally filed a claim against both Amazon and clothing retailer Gap on Jan. 12, 2004, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. According to a 2003