EBay and MercExchange settle dispute

San Francisco -- EBay Inc. settled a long-standing legal battle over patent infringements with MercExchange Thursday for an undisclosed amount of money.

MercExchange first filed suit against eBay in 2001 over patents related to eBay's "Buy It Now" feature, which settles an online sale with a predetermined fixed price.

IEbay agreed to buy three patents that were in dispute.

The case had gone to the U.S. Supreme Court, which referred it back to a lower court to figure out the damages involved. In December, a federal judge in Virginia ordered eBay to pay $30 million in damages.

EBay said the settlement would not affect its earnings report for 2007 or change the direction of its financial guidelines for 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported.

MercExchange agreed to drop all further actions against the giant online auction company.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.