Barnes & Noble has been sued by Spring Design, who produce the Alex reader pictured at the left. According the the lawsuit B&N misappropriated trade secrets and violated the parties’ non-disclosure agreement by copying Alex’s features in its new Nook ereader.
Spring Design states that it first developed the Alex in 2006 and since early 2009 worked with B&N under non-disclosure. Spring says that it was unaware that B&N was copying the features of the Alex until the public release of the Nook.
The full press release is here. Thanks to Mediabistro for the link.
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.
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?
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.
This is a hoot!! I love it. Go Kindle!!
Our two leading ebook readers: Swindle and Crook.
Breaking news on this story, from CNET:
A documentary film about the issue is being made, titled: “NoNook of the North.”
Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks
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?
Felix:
and more from a Reuters article, by Alexandria Sage:
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
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.