In a cryptic announcement, the USPTO review panelists reviewing an examiner's rejection of Amazon's 1-click patent as obvious, sent it back to the examiner requesting more evidence because it didn't seem obvious to them link here. At first glance, this didn't appear to me to be a very interesting case--but there is a long history to it.

First of all, the patent seems obvious to me--it is simply a macro in which a single key-stroke performs a series of computer functions. The patent, entitled "A Method and System for Placing a Purchase Order Via a Communications Network," was applied for in 1997 and granted two years later link here. A battle started when bookseller Barnes & Noble came up with its own "1-click" ordering system. Amazon sued for infringement and won that fall and won again on appeal. Calls for a boycott were not successful but created a good bit of backlash against software patents. The patent is described in simple terms here.

The real disgrace in this case is that it is still around, ten years later and may still be around ten years from now.