A box from Amazon.com is pictured on the porch of a house in Golden, Colorado.Rick Wilking/Reuters
Internet retailer Amazon.com has won a battle in its legal fight to patent an online payment system in Canada, closing a chapter in its fight over technology that allows shoppers to buy items with a speedy click of their computer mouse.
The Federal Court overturned a decision by Canada's patent office, which didn't allow the "one-click" payment method to be patented in this country.
While the court's decision doesn't directly affect consumers, it allows Amazon to return to the patent office and resubmit an application to patent the technology in Canada.
If approved, the patent will protect the "one-click" concept so that it can't be used legally by others unless they license it from Amazon.
Representatives from Amazon could not be immediately reached for comment.
Patent disputes, which are common in the tech world, can last for years and take millions of dollars to resolve.
"The Patent Act is not static; it must be applied in ways that recognize changes in technology such as the move from the Industrial Age to the electronic one of today," Justice Michael Phelan wrote in a decision released Thursday.
The court said that the one-click payment system is a "business method" and is patentable in Canada, and sent the issue back to the federal Commissioner of Patents for another look.
"There is no basis for the commissioner's assumption that there is a `tradition' of excluding business methods from patentability in Canada," Phelan wrote.
He noted that the United States and Europe allow such patents.