(Slip Opinion)

OCTOBER TERM, 2005

Syllabus
NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is
being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.
The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been
prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Syllabus

EBAY INC. ET AL. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT
No. 05130.

Argued March 29, 2006Decided May 15, 2006

Petitioners operate popular Internet Web sites that allow private sell
ers to list goods they wish to sell. Respondent sought to license its
business method patent to petitioners, but no agreement was
reached. In respondents subsequent patent infringement suit, a jury
found that its patent was valid, that petitioners had infringed the
patent, and that damages were appropriate. However, the District
Court denied respondents motion for permanent injunctive relief. In
reversing, the Federal Circuit applied its general rule that courts
will issue permanent injunctions against patent infringement absent
exceptional circumstances. 401 F. 3d 1323, 1339.
Held: The traditional four-factor test applied by courts of equity when
considering whether to award permanent injunctive relief to a pre
vailing plaintiff applies to disputes arising under the Patent Act.
That test requires a plaintiff to demonstrate: (1) that it has suffered
an irreparable injury; (2) that remedies available at law are inade
quate to compensate for that injury; (3) that considering the balance
of hardships between the plaintiff and defendant, a remedy in equity
is warranted; and (4) that the public interest would not be disserved
by a permanent injunction. The decision to grant or deny such relief
is an act of equitable discretion by the district court, reviewable on
appeal for abuse of discretion. These principles apply with equal
force to Patent Act disputes. [A] major departure from the long tra
dition of equity practice should not be lightly implied. Weinberger v.
Romero-Barcelo, 456 U. S. 305, 320. Nothing in the Act indicates
such a departure. Pp. 26.
401 F. 3d 1323, vacated and remanded.
THOMAS, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. ROBERTS,

EBAY INC. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

Syllabus

C. J., filed a concurring opinion, in which SCALIA and GINSBURG, JJ.,

joined. KENNEDY, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which STEVENS,
SOUTER, and BREYER, JJ., joined.

Cite as: 547 U. S. ____ (2006)

Opinion of the Court

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 05130
_________________

EBAY INC., ET AL., PETITIONERS v.

MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT

[May 15, 2006]

JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

Ordinarily, a federal court considering whether to award
permanent injunctive relief to a prevailing plaintiff ap
plies the four-factor test historically employed by courts of
equity. Petitioners eBay Inc. and Half.com, Inc., argue
that this traditional test applies to disputes arising under
the Patent Act. We agree and, accordingly, vacate the
judgment of the Court of Appeals.
I
Petitioner eBay operates a popular Internet Web site
that allows private sellers to list goods they wish to sell,
either through an auction or at a fixed price. Petitioner
Half.com, now a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay, oper
ates a similar Web site. Respondent MercExchange,
L. L. C., holds a number of patents, including a business
method patent for an electronic market designed to facili
tate the sale of goods between private individuals by
establishing a central authority to promote trust among
participants. See U. S. Patent No. 5,845,265. MercEx
change sought to license its patent to eBay and Half.com,
as it had previously done with other companies, but the

EBAY INC. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

Opinion of the Court

parties failed to reach an agreement. MercExchange

subsequently filed a patent infringement suit against
eBay and Half.com in the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Virginia. A jury found that Mer
cExchanges patent was valid, that eBay and Half.com had
infringed that patent, and that an award of damages was
appropriate.1
Following the jury verdict, the District Court denied
MercExchanges motion for permanent injunctive relief.
275 F. Supp. 2d 695 (2003). The Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit reversed, applying its general rule that
courts will issue permanent injunctions against patent
infringement absent exceptional circumstances.
401
F. 3d 1323, 1339 (2005). We granted certiorari to deter
mine the appropriateness of this general rule. 546 U. S
___ (2005).
II
According to well-established principles of equity, a
plaintiff seeking a permanent injunction must satisfy a
four-factor test before a court may grant such relief. A
plaintiff must demonstrate: (1) that it has suffered an
irreparable injury; (2) that remedies available at law, such
as monetary damages, are inadequate to compensate for
that injury; (3) that, considering the balance of hardships
between the plaintiff and defendant, a remedy in equity is
warranted; and (4) that the public interest would not be
disserved by a permanent injunction. See, e.g., Weinberger
v. Romero-Barcelo, 456 U. S. 305, 311313 (1982); Amoco
Production Co. v. Gambell, 480 U. S. 531, 542 (1987). The
decision to grant or deny permanent injunctive relief is an
act of equitable discretion by the district court, reviewable
on appeal for abuse of discretion. See, e.g., Romero

1 EBay and Half.com continue to challenge the validity of MercEx

changes patent in proceedings pending before the United States Patent
and Trademark Office.

Cite as: 547 U. S. ____ (2006)

Opinion of the Court

Barcelo, 456 U. S., at 320.

These familiar principles apply with equal force to
disputes arising under the Patent Act. As this Court has
long recognized, a major departure from the long tradi
tion of equity practice should not be lightly implied.
Ibid.; see also Amoco, supra, at 542. Nothing in the Pat
ent Act indicates that Congress intended such a depar
ture. To the contrary, the Patent Act expressly provides
that injunctions may issue in accordance with the prin
ciples of equity. 35 U. S. C. 283.2
To be sure, the Patent Act also declares that patents
shall have the attributes of personal property, 261,
including the right to exclude others from making, using,
offering for sale, or selling the invention, 154(a)(1).
According to the Court of Appeals, this statutory right to
exclude alone justifies its general rule in favor of perma
nent injunctive relief. 401 F. 3d, at 1338. But the creation
of a right is distinct from the provision of remedies for
violations of that right. Indeed, the Patent Act itself
indicates that patents shall have the attributes of personal
property [s]ubject to the provisions of this title, 35
U. S. C. 261, including, presumably, the provision that
injunctive relief may issue only in accordance with the
principles of equity, 283.
This approach is consistent with our treatment of in
junctions under the Copyright Act. Like a patent owner, a
copyright holder possesses the right to exclude others
from using his property. Fox Film Corp. v. Doyal, 286
U. S. 123, 127 (1932); see also id., at 127128 (A copy
right, like a patent, is at once the equivalent given by the
public for benefits bestowed by the genius and meditations

2 Section

283 provides that [t]he several courts having jurisdiction of

cases under this title may grant injunctions in accordance with the
principles of equity to prevent the violation of any right secured by
patent, on such terms as the court deems reasonable.

EBAY INC. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

Opinion of the Court

and skill of individuals, and the incentive to further efforts

for the same important objects (internal quotation marks
omitted)). Like the Patent Act, the Copyright Act provides
that courts may grant injunctive relief on such terms as
it may deem reasonable to prevent or restrain infringe
ment of a copyright. 17 U. S. C. 502(a). And as in our
decision today, this Court has consistently rejected invita
tions to replace traditional equitable considerations with a
rule that an injunction automatically follows a determina
tion that a copyright has been infringed. See, e.g., New
York Times Co. v. Tasini, 533 U. S. 483, 505 (2001) (citing
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U. S. 569, 578, n. 10
(1994)); Dun v. Lumbermens Credit Assn., 209 U. S. 20, 23
24 (1908).
Neither the District Court nor the Court of Appeals
below fairly applied these traditional equitable principles
in deciding respondents motion for a permanent injunc
tion. Although the District Court recited the traditional
four-factor test, 275 F. Supp. 2d, at 711, it appeared to
adopt certain expansive principles suggesting that injunc
tive relief could not issue in a broad swath of cases. Most
notably, it concluded that a plaintiffs willingness to
license its patents and its lack of commercial activity in
practicing the patents would be sufficient to establish
that the patent holder would not suffer irreparable harm if
an injunction did not issue. Id., at 712. But traditional
equitable principles do not permit such broad classifica
tions. For example, some patent holders, such as univer
sity researchers or self-made inventors, might reasonably
prefer to license their patents, rather than undertake
efforts to secure the financing necessary to bring their
works to market themselves. Such patent holders may be
able to satisfy the traditional four-factor test, and we see
no basis for categorically denying them the opportunity to
do so. To the extent that the District Court adopted such
a categorical rule, then, its analysis cannot be squared

Cite as: 547 U. S. ____ (2006)

Opinion of the Court

with the principles of equity adopted by Congress. The

courts categorical rule is also in tension with Continental
Paper Bag Co. v. Eastern Paper Bag Co., 210 U. S. 405, 422
430 (1908), which rejected the contention that a court of
equity has no jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief to a
patent holder who has unreasonably declined to use the
patent.
In reversing the District Court, the Court of Appeals
departed in the opposite direction from the four-factor
test. The court articulated a general rule, unique to
patent disputes, that a permanent injunction will issue
once infringement and validity have been adjudged. 401
F. 3d, at 1338. The court further indicated that injunc
tions should be denied only in the unusual case, under
exceptional circumstances and in rare instances . . . to
protect the public interest. Id., at 13381339. Just as
the District Court erred in its categorical denial of injunc
tive relief, the Court of Appeals erred in its categorical
grant of such relief. Cf. Roche Products v. Bolar Pharma
ceutical Co., 733 F. 2d 858, 865 (CAFed 1984) (recognizing
the considerable discretion district courts have in de
termining whether the facts of a situation require it to
issue an injunction).
Because we conclude that neither court below correctly
applied the traditional four-factor framework that governs
the award of injunctive relief, we vacate the judgment of
the Court of Appeals, so that the District Court may apply
that framework in the first instance. In doing so, we take
no position on whether permanent injunctive relief should
or should not issue in this particular case, or indeed in any
number of other disputes arising under the Patent Act.
We hold only that the decision whether to grant or deny
injunctive relief rests within the equitable discretion of the
district courts, and that such discretion must be exercised
consistent with traditional principles of equity, in patent
disputes no less than in other cases governed by such
standards.

EBAY INC. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

Opinion of the Court

Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of the Court of

Appeals, and remand for further proceedings consistent
with this opinion.
It is so ordered.

Cite as: 547 U. S. ____ (2006)

ROBERTS, C. J., concurring

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 05130
_________________

EBAY INC., ET AL., PETITIONERS v.

MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT

[May 15, 2006]

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS, with whom JUSTICE SCALIA

and JUSTICE GINSBURG join, concurring.
I agree with the Courts holding that the decision
whether to grant or deny injunctive relief rests within the
equitable discretion of the district courts, and that such
discretion must be exercised consistent with traditional
principles of equity, in patent disputes no less than in
other cases governed by such standards, ante, at 5, and I
join the opinion of the Court. That opinion rightly rests on
the proposition that a major departure from the long
tradition of equity practice should not be lightly implied.
Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo, 456 U. S. 305, 320 (1982); see
ante, at 3.
From at least the early 19th century, courts have
granted injunctive relief upon a finding of infringement in
the vast majority of patent cases. This long tradition of
equity practice is not surprising, given the difficulty of
protecting a right to exclude through monetary remedies
that allow an infringer to use an invention against the
patentees wishesa difficulty that often implicates the
first two factors of the traditional four-factor test. This
historical practice, as the Court holds, does not entitle a
patentee to a permanent injunction or justify a general rule
that such injunctions should issue. The Federal Circuit
itself so recognized in Roche Products, Inc. v. Bolar Pharma

EBAY INC. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

ROBERTS, C. J., concurring

ceutical Co., 733 F. 2d 858, 865867 (1984). At the same

time, there is a difference between exercising equitable
discretion pursuant to the established four-factor test and
writing on an entirely clean slate. Discretion is not whim,
and limiting discretion according to legal standards helps
promote the basic principle of justice that like cases
should be decided alike. Martin v. Franklin Capital Corp.,
546 U. S. ___, ___ (2005) (slip op., at 6). When it comes to
discerning and applying those standards, in this area as
others, a page of history is worth a volume of logic. New
York Trust Co. v. Eisner, 256 U. S. 345, 349 (1921) (opinion
for the Court by Holmes, J.).

Cite as: 547 U. S. ____ (2006)

KENNEDY, J., concurring

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 05130
_________________

EBAY INC., ET AL., PETITIONERS v.

MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF

APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT

[May 15, 2006]

JUSTICE KENNEDY, with whom JUSTICE STEVENS,

JUSTICE SOUTER, and JUSTICE BREYER join, concurring.
The Court is correct, in my view, to hold that courts
should apply the well-established, four-factor test
without resort to categorical rulesin deciding whether to
grant injunctive relief in patent cases.
THE CHIEF
JUSTICE is also correct that history may be instructive in
applying this test. Ante, at 12 (concurring opinion). The
traditional practice of issuing injunctions against patent
infringers, however, does not seem to rest on the diffi
culty of protecting a right to exclude through monetary
remedies that allow an infringer to use an invention
against the patentees wishes. Ante, at 1 (ROBERTS, C. J.,
concurring). Both the terms of the Patent Act and the
traditional view of injunctive relief accept that the exis
tence of a right to exclude does not dictate the remedy for
a violation of that right. Ante, at 34 (opinion of the
Court). To the extent earlier cases establish a pattern of
granting an injunction against patent infringers almost as
a matter of course, this pattern simply illustrates the
result of the four-factor test in the contexts then preva
lent. The lesson of the historical practice, therefore, is
most helpful and instructive when the circumstances of a
case bear substantial parallels to litigation the courts have
confronted before.

EBAY INC. v. MERCEXCHANGE, L. L. C.

KENNEDY, J., concurring

In cases now arising trial courts should bear in mind

that in many instances the nature of the patent being
enforced and the economic function of the patent holder
present considerations quite unlike earlier cases. An
industry has developed in which firms use patents not as a
basis for producing and selling goods but, instead, primarily
for obtaining licensing fees. See FTC, To Promote Innova
tion: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law
and Policy, ch. 3, pp. 3839 (Oct. 2003), available at
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2003/10/innovationrpt.pdf (as visited
May 11, 2006, and available in Clerk of Courts case file).
For these firms, an injunction, and the potentially serious
sanctions arising from its violation, can be employed as a
bargaining tool to charge exorbitant fees to companies that
seek to buy licenses to practice the patent. See ibid.
When the patented invention is but a small component of
the product the companies seek to produce and the threat
of an injunction is employed simply for undue leverage in
negotiations, legal damages may well be sufficient to
compensate for the infringement and an injunction may
not serve the public interest. In addition injunctive relief
may have different consequences for the burgeoning num
ber of patents over business methods, which were not of
much economic and legal significance in earlier times.
The potential vagueness and suspect validity of some of
these patents may affect the calculus under the four-factor
test.
The equitable discretion over injunctions, granted by the
Patent Act, is well suited to allow courts to adapt to the
rapid technological and legal developments in the patent
system. For these reasons it should be recognized that
district courts must determine whether past practice fits
the circumstances of the cases before them. With these
observations, I join the opinion of the Court.