Dive Brief:

• A jury in Texas ordered the online retailer Newegg to pay $2.3 million in a patent infringement case over its use of online encryption techniques.
• TQP Development, which owns the patent in question (U.S. Patent 5412730), has amassed $45 million in patent licensing fees in settlements with 139 companies, such as Amazon, Microsoft and others.
• Newegg intends to appeal the decision and continue to fight non-practicing entities that it deems to be "patent trolls."

Dive Insight:

Newegg has cultivated a reputation for itself by taking patent challenges to court in cases where other retailers have opted to settle. In this case, the patent contains broad language such as "a modem suitable for transmitting encrypted data over voice-grade telephone line" and potentially has implications for lots of other e-retailers who use encryption to safeguard consumer privacy.