Amazon fined for print-on-demand patent infringement

M2 Best Books, March 25, 2004

M2 BEST BOOKS-(C)2000-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

A court in the United States has ruled that online bookseller Amazon's print-on-demand service was an infringement on a patent held by the On Demand Machine Corporation (ODMC).

The lawsuit, which also named two other companies, Lightening Source Inc., who provide Amazon with the digital library to sell to customers, and Ingram Industries Inc., was brought by ODMC on the two remaining patents that the company's founder registered under a patent for 'a system and method of manufacturing a single book copy.' describing a computer hardware system that 'may be utilized in many environments, but it is especially well suited for direct retail consumer sales.'

Amazon, Lightening Source and Ingram all claim that the patent doesn't cover their wide ranging, multi-hardware based service and just a specific machine that could be used for print-on-demand services.

The judge at the St Louis Federal District Court awarded ODMC damages of USD15m for past infringement up until December 2003. Amazon, Lightening Source and Ingram said they will appeal the decision.

If the ruling is upheld then all print-on-demand companies could end up having to pay ODMC damages and licensing fees for the use of the print-on-demand method, reports PC Magazine.