Comments on: B&N sued for misappropriating intellectual property of Alex reader

By: David

David — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:17:21 +0000

Richard: Exactly why do you want the Nook to fail and the Kindle to beat it? I think most folks here want both readers to succeed.

If the Kindle is the only major success in ebook readers then Amazon will dominate and dictate the ebook market. They will become the Microsoft of ebooks. We need competition and openness, especially at this stage.

By: Michael Pastore

Michael Pastore — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:29:33 +0000

Felix:

The case is Spring Design Inc v. Barnesandnoble.com LLC, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 09-05185.

and more from a Reuters article, by Alexandria Sage:

According to the lawsuit, William Lynch, president of BarnesandNoble.com, “warned Spring’s Albert Teng that he should not consider Amazon as a content partner, because Amazon was likely to steal Spring’s unique idea without ever buying anything from Spring.”

“Spring believed that it was disclosing the confidential features of its Alex device in exchange for Barnes & Noble’s implicit promise that it would seriously consider acquiring Spring’s product,” according to the lawsuit.

Non-disclosure agreements are tricky. B&N might have already had the same ideas before meeting with Spring. That’s hard to prove. It’s the registered patents, and the questions about patent infringement, that will decide this case.

The publicity turned out to be good for Barnes & Noble. Their stock shares rose today. Twelve cents.

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks

By: Felix Torres

Felix Torres — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:18:02 +0000

I wonder where Spring Design filed their lawsuit.
If they filed in east Texas the injunction against Nook is a slam dunk.

If they *didn’t* file in East Texas either they’re either very stupid or they have a smoking gun.

Just by posting side-by-side pictures of the two designs and reminding the judge that patents protect ideas, not expressions, shoots down the “innocent duplication” defense. And if anybody on the Nook team had seen an Alex before launch…

Essentially, B&N has to prove the SD patents are invalid. And that sort of thing takes years.
Best guess, B&N buys off SD.
Or cancels Nook.
Anybody want to lay odds?

By: Michael Pastore

Michael Pastore — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:03:17 +0000

Our two leading ebook readers: Swindle and Crook.

Breaking news on this story, from CNET:

In a new lawsuit, start-up Spring Design is seeking not only monetary damages from Barnes & Noble, but also is looking to get an injunction barring sales of the Nook, which it says misappropriates its trade secrets.

A documentary film about the issue is being made, titled: “NoNook of the North.”

Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks

By: Richard Askenase

Richard Askenase — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:06:31 +0000

This is a hoot!! I love it. Go Kindle!!

By: Rich Adin

Rich Adin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:09:51 +0000

At least now I understand why B&N won’t discount the nook for its club members — it needs the money to defend this lawsuit.

By: BestTabletReview

BestTabletReview — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:09:08 +0000

I’m interested to see some editorial on this topic. Do you think the Spring Design filing could lead to a possible injunction to stop Nook’s sales? Also, aside from settling (which I’m sure is the intention) does Spring Design have a strong case here? Any precedent that could be cited for this instance?

By: Paul Durrant

Paul Durrant — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:59:07 +0000

Wow. Granted, it’s their press release, and so puts matters in the best light for their case, but even so, it sounds bad for B&N….

I wonder what B&N will have to say for themselves.