The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has initially revoked in its entirety the consignment fixed price patent which underlies the $25 million judgment MercExchange obtained against eBay in 2003, and which was recently affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In response to eBay's March 2004 request, the Patent Office reexamined that patent and has now initially rejected all of its claims, finding them to be "obvious" or otherwise unpatentable.