Seems like every major company is suing someone these days. Microsoft sued Barnes & Noble over the Android powered Nook last month and now Barnes & Noble is lashing back at Microsoft saying that the company needs to cool down.
Just recently, Microsoft sued Barnes & Noble and alleged that the company infringed on six patents in it’s Android powered Nook e-reader. Not only that, Microsoft also sued the manufacturers of the Nook, Foxconn and Inventec.
According to Microsoft, the Nook violates patents because it has the following features:
- Ability to navigate through information provided by device apps via a separate control window with tabs.
- The display of a webpage’s content before the background image is received, allowing users to interact with the page faster.
- Allowing apps to superimpose download status on top of the downloading content.
- Permitting users to select text in a document and adjust that selection.
- Providing users the ability to annotate text without changing the underlying document.
Microsoft told Barnes & Noble that if they wanted to continue using these patents, they would have to fork over some cash.
Barnes & Noble
On an interesting note, Microsoft’s oversight with the United States Justice Department ends May 12. The settlement reached between teh two parties required strict oversight procedures and explicit requirements to prevent Microsoft from engaging in “Predatory Behavior” towards its rivals. I would think this issue with Barnes & Noble is a form of “Predatory Behavior” towards rivals, don’t you?
