TOYS 'R' US DISPUTE Restraining order eased against Amazon.com

The toy retailer said it paid $200 million to be Amazon's sole toy provider.
PATERSON, N.J. (AP) -- Amazon.com got some relief in its dispute with Toys "R" Us when a state judge eased a restraining order that the online retailer said would prevent the September launch of a service that would open its Web site to untold numbers of sellers.
However, Superior Court Judge Margaret M. McVeigh said Toys "R" Us has shown a likelihood it would prevail in proving that Amazon violated their contract. The nation's No. 2 toy seller contends it has paid $200 million over four years to be the exclusive provider of toys, games and baby products on the Amazon site.
She also ordered both companies to begin exchanging documents and scheduling depositions, normal procedures in litigation, but also urged them to consider renewing mediation efforts.
McVeigh said she attempted to balance the harm her orders could have on both companies, noting that Toys "R" Us had stopped selling through its own Web site when it signed on with Amazon in August 2000, but that Amazon wanted to have its "graphical user interface" technology in place for the critical holiday season.
How case began
Wayne-based Toys "R" Us sued May 21, charging that Amazon violated exclusivity terms by letting others sell competing products through the Web site.
McVeigh imposed a temporary restraining order June 3, barring Amazon from letting others sell toys, games or baby products on its site using the GUI or similar technology.
Seattle-based Amazon countersued June 25, seeking to dissolve their partnership, citing a "chronic failure" by the toy seller to adhere to their contract.
Amazon lawyer David R. Goodnight said problems included insufficient stock last Christmas, causing Amazon users seeking Toys "R" Us goods to find that 25 percent were not available. "These are absolutely devastating problems to an Internet retailer like Amazon, whose bread and butter is service and selection," he said.
Toys "R" Us lawyer Michael Dockterman countered that the products were there and that it was Amazon's systems that failed.
McVeigh said those issues would be decided another day.
But she loosened the restraining order, allowing Amazon to launch the GUI, but barring its users from selling toys, games and baby products that Toys "R" Us selects as their exclusive offerings.
Both Amazon.com and Toys "R" Us seek a judgment that the other is violating the agreement and monetary damages, with Amazon suggesting it should be awarded at least $750 million as compensation for lost shipping revenue and other costs.