Does Amazon have a Patent for Exchanging Goods Virtualy?

Amazon Patents Selling Used Goods At Starbucks, Barnes & Noble Or Other Locations
from the obviousness-is-dead dept

theodp writes "Having already been burned by Amazon's 1-Click patent, one imagines Barnes & Noble will be fuming to learn that the USPTO granted Amazon a patent Tuesday covering the use of Barnes and Noble's physical stores to fulfill orders placed for used goods on Amazon. The e-tailer was awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,702,545 for its System and Method for Facilitating Exchanges Between Buyers and Sellers, legal-speak for arranging a place to meet to exchange cash for used goods ordered online. From the patent: 'In an exemplary embodiment, buyers and sellers are permitted to designate exchange locations in the system 100. An exchange location may be a location that the user regularly visits. For example, users may designate locations such as health clubs, schools, coffee shops, book stores, and so on, as acceptable exchange locations.'"
My comment on the post:

via:techdirt.com

This is broader then imagined.
by jeanricard broek

The location does not have to be a physical location, therefore this covers all web offerings , but can be virtual, ie: voice, video enabled virtual exchange.

"Interactive screen displays are provided to the users by way of the Internet. The interactive screen displays are configured to provide the potential users with information regarding the one or more items desired to be exchanged."
via: The Patent Application

Does not sound like you look at the actual item in a coffeehouse.

"The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principals of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. "

via: The Patent Application

Apple also has a patent on a Virtual Store & Linden Lab will be moving all asset storage to the Amazon Cloud as per a recent SL blog post. Now I know nothing of the Lindens plans and gather and reflect on information here from all over the web, I cannot believe that senior executives, even at "the Lab" do not know how to negotiate licenses and make partnerships nor have they designed the viewer to look like an iPad app by mistake.