Amazon settles one-click patent row

NEWS Amazon has settled a long running patent infringement suit against rival Barnes & Noble over its one-click payment system. Details of the settlement, filed yesterday in a Seattle court, were not disclosed. Amazon sued Barnes & Noble in 1999, claiming the rival book giant had copied its patented one-click system, which allows shoppers to skip several steps of the payment process by presetting credit card and shipping address information, when they first log on to Amazon.com In 1999 Amazon won an injunction preventing Barnes & Noble from using its version of the technology. While both companies refused to comment on the settlement it is likely to involve Barnes & Noble either paying costs to Amazon or paying to license the one-click technology.