If lawyers and businessmen were hoping for a clear-cut ruling from the US Supreme Court on the landmark patent case involving Ebay, they were disappointed. For what the Justices gave, they also took away.

The most significant outcome was a moderating of the near-automatic injunctions typically granted to plaintiffs who were able to establish that their patent had been infringed. This should be good news for tech companies, which argue that such a threat effectively puts a gun to their heads. They have to pay high settlements for fear of having their businesses shut down.