- Jul 9, 2010
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Microsoft filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec today, for the Nook eReader powered by Android.
As Android infringes on multiple Microsoft patents, all manufacturers are expected to pay Microsoft via an industry-wide patent licensing program. However, Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec have been refusing to take up the license fees for over a year. Other major vendors including HTC already pay Microsoft a licensing fee for its Android smartphones. Motorola was hit with a similar lawsuit last year in October, but a settlement has not been actually announced.
Microsoft seems to be making the rounds and targeting more Android manufacturers. With more and more Android devices emerging in the market this year, the pickings may be ripe this year for Microsoft even as Android becomes more and more successful.
On an interesting sidenote, Inventec also is responsible for manufacturing the Pandigital Novel, which was actually more popular (second place) than the Barnes and Noble eReaders (third place) according to 2010 IDC figures. It would not be surprising if Pandigital is next up on Microsoft's to-sue list, or if this lawsuit actually includes the different variants of the Pandigital Novel. Combined shipments of Android eReaders is close to a total of one million units shipped worldwide in 2010.
Source
News from ZDNet
Image of Steve Ballmer at CES 2010 from Wikipedia
