Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 21, 2011 20:33 UTC (Mon) by dan_linder (guest, #88)
Parent article: Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

I hope this doesn't settle out of court. I don't think B&N wants to have their Nook reader torn away from them without a fight. I don't know how deep Foxconn or Inventecs' pockets are, so the only listed company who might want to settle rather than go to court would probably be Microsoft.

Of course, the settlement with B&N may be to pay a minimal fee to MS for each Nook reader sold and then MS can say that they "won" the battle.

I hope B&N can get Google to come on too. Let's settle this patent problem once and for all.

If not, it'll draw attention to the fact that patents are not for the "small inventor" anymore...

Dan

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 21, 2011 21:01 UTC (Mon) by leomilano (guest, #32220) [Link] (2 responses)

I would suspect MS's main goal is to spread FUD about Android. They "partnered" with Novell just to do that with Linux, and now they "partnered" with NOKIA [1] to bully their way into the mobile arena. It only makes sense for them to attack Android in this context.

[1] If you visit www.nokia.com as of this writing (and for the last few days), the most prominent word you see is MICROSOFT all in capital letters.

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 21, 2011 23:02 UTC (Mon) by pboddie (guest, #50784) [Link] (1 responses)

Where I'm surfing from there's a prominent banner which reads "Nokia + Microsoft. Join the discussion!" Once again, the people in charge of some corporate image have failed to understand some fundamental principle of communication. In this case: that you only put that kind of thing in that kind of position if you've just announced a merger or acquisition. But I suppose such people claim to know what they're doing, so we should just let them get on with it.

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 22, 2011 4:20 UTC (Tue) by jordanb (guest, #45668) [Link]

Nokia's admitting what it is: One of the most inexpensive acquisitions of a major multinational corporation in history.

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 21, 2011 21:40 UTC (Mon) by b7j0c (guest, #27559) [Link] (2 responses)

i would think BN will almost certainly settle and obtain a license...it looks like HTC is already a licensee. with the nook in a tough competitive position to the kindle, i doubt BN wants to divert too much energy to litigating

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 22, 2011 20:51 UTC (Tue) by FlorianMueller (guest, #32048) [Link]

It's hard to imagine that Barnes & Noble has patents over which it can countersue, and there isn't just the HTC example but also Amazon.com, which already pays Microsoft royalties on the Kindle. That's obviously B&N's closest competitor.

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 23, 2011 6:40 UTC (Wed) by AndreE (guest, #60148) [Link]

HTC is an odd case since HTC also make Windows phones. In fact, I think they have the most Windows 7 phone models out right now. "Extracting" the license agreement from them was probably not that difficult

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 22, 2011 20:40 UTC (Tue) by FlorianMueller (guest, #32048) [Link] (3 responses)

B&N will hardly "get Google to come on too." With 500-odd patents, most of them just search-related, Google is too weak to have an impact in such a dispute.

Yesterday's lawsuits (a federal suit and an ITC complaint) take the number of Android-related patent lawsuits up to 37. If Google had the ability to show some authority with its own patents, many of those would never have been filed in the first place.

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 23, 2011 0:32 UTC (Wed) by forlwn (guest, #63934) [Link] (2 responses)

"With 500-odd patents, most of them just search-related, Google is too weak to have an impact in such a dispute."

This is bullshit.

Are you aware of Google's company portfolio ?

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 23, 2011 7:05 UTC (Wed) by FlorianMueller (guest, #32048) [Link] (1 responses)

This is bullshit. Are you aware of Google's company portfolio ?

I am perfectly aware, you are not, which doesn't of course prevent you from writing a comment like that. Plus, I am civilized while you are not.

So, here are the facts why Google's patent portfolio is far too weak to protect Android. That article contains links to the USPTO database and to useful statistics. Google is a patent dwarf.

Microsoft sues Barnes and Noble over Android

Posted Mar 24, 2011 4:06 UTC (Thu) by forlwn (guest, #63934) [Link]

I don't follow any link of yours. Keep it for you as you like it and let's also note that company's goodwill and popularity is not measured by the patents they hold.