1-Click
{{Short description|Online purchasing with only a single mouse click}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
File:Amazon 1-Click option.png offering the option to either add an item to the user's cart, or purchase it immediately using 1-Click]]
1-Click, also called one-click or one-click buying, is the technique of allowing customers to make purchases with the payment information needed to complete the purchase having been entered by the user previously.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=468482|title=Amazon.com Help: About 1-Click Ordering|website=www.amazon.com}} More particularly, it allows an online shopper using an Internet marketplace to purchase an item without having to use shopping cart software. Instead of manually inputting billing and shipping information for a purchase, a user can use one-click buying to use a predefined address and credit card number to purchase one or more items. Since the expiration of Amazon's patent, there has been an advent of checkout experience platforms, such as ShopPay, Simpler, PeachPay, Zplit, and Bolt which offer similar one-click checkout flows.{{Cite news |date=2022-04-26 |title=Payment Startup Bolt Sued by Its Most Prominent Customer |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-26/forever-21-parent-authentic-brands-sues-bolt-startup |access-date=2022-04-27}}
Patent
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a patent{{Cite patent|country=US|number=5960411|pubdate=1999-09-28|title=Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network|assign1=Amazon.com Inc.|inventor1-last=Hartman|inventor1-first=Peri|inventor2-last=Bezos|inventor2-first=Jeffrey P.|inventor3-last=Kaphan|inventor3-first=Shel|inventor4-last=Spiegel|inventor4-first=Joel}} for this technique to Amazon.com in September 1999. Amazon.com also owns the "1-Click" trademark.{{Cite web |last=Nickelsburg |first=Monica |date=September 11, 2017 |title=Amazon's '1-Click' patent expires today, and soon you'll be able to accidentally order stuff across the entire internet |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazons-1-click-patent-expires-today-soon-youll-able-accidentally-order-stuff-across-entire-internet/}}
On May 12, 2006, the USPTO ordered a reexamination{{cite news|first=Stephen |last=Hutcheon|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/kiwi-actor-v-amazoncom/2006/05/23/1148150224714.html |title=Kiwi actor v Amazon.com |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=May 23, 2006 |access-date=November 19, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081211091740/http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/kiwi-actor-v-amazoncom/2006/05/23/1148150224714.html| archive-date= December 11, 2008 }} of the "One-Click" patent, based on a request filed by Peter Calveley.{{cite web |url=http://igdmlgd.blogspot.com |title=IGDMLGD Blog |access-date=November 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925203700/http://igdmlgd.blogspot.com/ |archive-date=September 25, 2007 |url-status=live |df=mdy }} Calveley cited as prior art an earlier e-commerce patent and the Digicash electronic cash system.
On October 9, 2007, the USPTO issued an office action in the reexamination which confirmed the patentability of claims 6 to 10 of the patent.{{cite web |url=http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair |title=Examiner Office Action dated Oct 9, 2007 for reexamination serial number 90/007,946 |publisher=USPTO |access-date=November 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114020637/http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair |archive-date=January 14, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }} The patent examiner, however, rejected claims 1 to 5 and 11 to 26. In November 2007, Amazon responded by amending the broadest claims (1 and 11) to restrict them to a shopping cart model of commerce. They have also submitted several hundred references for the examiner to consider.{{cite web|url=http://www.out-law.com/page-8659 |title=Amazon surrenders on One-Click shopping monopoly |publisher=Out-law.com |date=November 23, 2007 |access-date=November 19, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081211093025/http://www.out-law.com/page-8659| archive-date= December 11, 2008 }} In March 2010, the reexamined and amended patent was allowed.{{cite web| url= http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/03/amazons_1-click_patent_confirmed_following_re-exam.html| title= Tech Flash| access-date= April 13, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100413043447/http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/03/amazons_1-click_patent_confirmed_following_re-exam.html| archive-date= April 13, 2010| url-status= dead| df= mdy-all}}{{cite web |url=http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/03/10/amazon.1.click.patent.confirmed.after.four.years/ |title=Electronista |access-date=April 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419191500/http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/03/10/amazon.1.click.patent.confirmed.after.four.years/ |archive-date=April 19, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}
Amazon's U.S. patent expired on September 11, 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-patent-on-one-click-payments-to-expire-2017-1|title=Amazon's patent on one-click payments to expire|website=Business Insider}}
In Europe, a patent application{{cite patent|status=application|country=EP|number=1134680|pubdate=2001-09-19|title=Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network|assign1=Amazon.com Inc.|inventor1-last=Hartman|inventor1-first=Peri|inventor2-last=Kaphan|inventor2-first=Shel|inventor3-last=Bezos|inventor3-first=Jeffrey P.|inventor4-last=Spiegel|inventor4-first=Joel}}, since rejected. on 1-Click ordering was filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) but was rejected by the EPO in 2007 due to obviousness; the decision was upheld in 2011.{{cite web|author=Jeremy Kirk|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/235190/article.html|title=Europe Rejects One-click-to-buy Amazon Patent Application|agency=IDG News Service|date=July 7, 2011}}
A related gift-ordering patent was granted in 2003, but revoked in 2007 following an opposition.{{cite web|url=http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2007/20071207.html|title=EPO revokes Amazon's "Gift Ordering" patent after opposition hearing|date=December 7, 2007|publisher=European Patent Office|access-date=May 13, 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090604043421/http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2007/20071207.html |archive-date = June 4, 2009|url-status=dead}}
In Canada, the Federal Court of Canada held that the One click patent could not be rejected as a pure business method since it had a physical effect. The Court remanded the application to the Canadian patent office for a reexamination.{{cite web|url=http://www.patentlyo.com/amazon-dot-com.pdf|title=Amazon.com, Inc. and The Attorney General of Canada and The Commissioner of Patents, 2010 FC 1011, October 14, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20101104232642/http%3A//www.patentlyo.com/amazon%2Ddot%2Dcom.pdf|archive-date=November 4, 2010|df=mdy-all}}
Licensing
=Apple Inc.=
Amazon.com in 2000 licensed 1-Click ordering to Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) for use on its online store.{{cite news|last=Wolverton |first=Troy |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-245879.html |title=Apple licenses Amazon's 1-Click |publisher=CNET News.com |date=September 18, 2000 |access-date=November 19, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090203092304/http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-245879.html| archive-date= February 3, 2009 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2000/09/18Apple-Licenses-Amazon-com-1-Click-Patent-and-Trademark/ |title=Apple Licenses Amazon.com 1-Click Patent and Trademark |date=September 18, 2000 |publisher=Apple }} Apple subsequently added 1-Click ordering to the iTunes Store{{cite web|url=https://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/sales.html |title=iTunes Store Terms of Sale |publisher=Apple Inc. |access-date=November 19, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081207125802/http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/sales.html| archive-date= December 7, 2008 }} and iPhoto.{{cite web |url=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iPhoto/6.0/en/oc2rem.html |title=iPhoto 6.0 Help: Turning 1-Click ordering on and off |publisher=Apple Inc. |access-date=November 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121062749/http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iPhoto%2F6.0%2Fen%2Foc2rem.html |archive-date=January 21, 2008 |url-status=live |df=mdy }} Apple paid $1 million to license the patent.
=Barnes & Noble=
Amazon filed a patent infringement lawsuit in October 1999 in response to Barnes & Noble's offering a 1-Click ordering option called "Express Lane". After reviewing the evidence, a judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering Barnes & Noble to stop offering Express Lane until the case was settled.{{cite news |author=Wolverton, Troy |title=Amazon, Barnes&Noble settle patent suit |work=CNET |date=March 6, 2002 |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-854105.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730055049/http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-854105.html |archive-date=July 30, 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=April 20, 2009 |df=mdy }} Barnes & Noble had developed a way to design around the patent by requiring shoppers to make a second click to confirm their purchase.[Claim 1 of the patent is limited to orders being placed "in response to only a single action being performed"{{cite web|url=http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/ask_tim/2000/bezos_0300.html|title=My Conversation with Jeff Bezos|website=O'Reilly Media|access-date=December 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218184903/http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/ask_tim/2000/bezos_0300.html|archive-date=December 18, 2007|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} The lawsuit was settled in 2002. The terms of the settlement, including whether or not Barnes & Noble took a license to the patent or paid any money to Amazon, were not disclosed.{{cite news|last=Wolverton |first=Troy |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-854105.html |title=Amazon, Barnes&Noble settle patent suit |work=CNET |date=March 6, 2002 |access-date=November 19, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090203023218/http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-854105.html| archive-date= February 3, 2009 }}
In response to the lawsuit, the Free Software Foundation urged a boycott of Amazon.com.{{cite web |url=https://status.fsf.org/notice/3139013 |title=Free Software Foundation (fsf)'s status on Tuesday, 13-Oct-2020 15:53:03 UTC |website=Free Software Foundation}} The boycott was lifted by GNU in September 2002.{{cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/amazon.html |title=(Formerly) Boycott Amazon! |website=GNU}}
{{cite web|url=https://www.adcanyon.com/|title=Amazon Advertising|website=www.adcanyon.com}}
See also
- Business method patent, a class of patents which disclose and claim new methods of doing business