Jeff Bezos and Tim OReilly seem to be strange bedfellows. How did they come together?
Tim O’Reilly is against bad patents, and so are we. Jeff Bezos believes his one-click patent is valid, and he’s funding BountyQuest even though we put the one-click patent to the test on Day One. Q: What was the outcome with the challenge to the Amazon.com patent? A: We were astonished by the breadth and quality of the prior-art evidence that we received for the One-Click posting. Tim O’Reilly offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could provide evidence demonstrating that certain elements in the One-Click patent were invented before Bezos’ patent filing date. Nobody submitted an exact match to win the bounty, but the cash reward attracted 30 submissions that are relevant to the patent. These may have a bearing on Amazon’s ability to enforce its patent, including evidence that was not discovered by the PTO. Q: Do you have plans to take BountyQuest public? A: We plan to build a sustainable, profitable business. We have an advantage in this respect over classic dot-coms in that we offer
