Patentseed

Have you ever installed the Skype plug-in which recognizes phone numbers whether you’re browsing the web or reading email, and lets you call via Skype immediately?  Well, eBay is applying a similar concept for making payments.  We just covered eBay’s patent application for sending payment over a social network last week.  Not surprisingly, they appear very focused on making their payment system ubiquitous.

In one embodiment of their recent patent application 11/940,403, you’ll be able to right click on an email address and have the option to send payment to that individual.  Simple enough, right?  Just be sure you don’t misclick and accidentally send money to that random email address.