Kiwi mum of three scores $6.5M in web patent auction

One-trolley web shopping has made a Kiwi mum millions. Photo / The Aucklander

WELLINGTON - New Zealander Juliette Harrington has sold her United States patent for one-stop internet shopping for $6.55 million at a London auction of intellectual property.

The patent, titled "Methods for internet shopping with a one-stop shopping cart" is for technology that allows a shopper to search for goods in the databases of several shops through one website.

Ms Harrington - a mother-of-three - was living at Lyttelton when she registered the patent early in 1997.

Two years later she fought a legal battle with Yahoo over its use of her technology.

Intellectual property is more commonly the subject of trade sales or private deals, but such auctions could turn intellectual assets into commodities according to The Scotsman newspaper.

- NZPA