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> The abstract notion of making purchases through a computer as simple and take as few steps as possible is “obvious” but it’s also not patentable.

The point was that the invention of 1-click buy is patentable as applied to "a shopping cart".

> After all, what did it take B&N; to work around the 1-click patent? They had to add a second click for the user to confirm the order.

https://web.archive.org/web/20071218184903/http://www.oreill...

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In a web browser, identifying the user through a session cookie, associating a session with a login, to which is attached a plurality of addresses and credit cards, of which one has been selected as a default to be used with one-click, then presenting a separate button next to the “Add to Cart” button which allows a one click purchase, which upon clicking will...

That specific implementation, in 1997, was patentable. And now anyone can freely do the same, if they went to, although we now know that isn’t really the best way to do it.

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