In what's shaping up as a key case in the ongoing debate over patent reform, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear eBay's appeal of a patent-infringement case it lost in district court two years ago. The high court Monday granted a petition to review the original decision, in which the district court ordered eBay to pay MercExchange, a small Virginia developer of E-commerce applications, $25 million in damages for violating a patent it holds for direct online buying (No. 5,845,265). A federal appeals court granted a stay on the case earlier this year while eBay sought to have it brought before the Supreme Court, which is expected to hear arguments in the spring. In addition to seeking an overturn of the damages awarded to MercExchange, eBay is questioning the appeals court's recommendation that an injunction be issued preventing eBay from continuing to violate the patent with its "Buy It Now" feature. The Supreme Court's decision on the injunction matter could prove integral as Congress weighs options to overhaul the patent system, which has been under fire for being out of step with the times by granting too many patents to so-called "obvious" inventions that either cobble together existing technologies or that really are little more than automated business processes.