Microsoft sues Barnes & Noble, Foxconn over Android eReader

By on Mar 21, 2011 at 4:14 PM
Legal March 21, 2011

Redmond software giant Microsoft has announced it will file suit against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn, and Inventec for patent infringement. The three, seemingly unrelated companies collaborate to manufacture the Barnes & Noble branded, Android-based eReader. “The Android platform infringes a number of Microsoft’s patents, and companies manufacturing and shipping Android devices must respect our intellectual property rights,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s Deputy General Counsel. Microsoft has setup a patent licensing program for Android vendors to mitigate instances of infringement upon the patents in question — Taiwanese company HTC subscribes to said program. “We have tried for over a year to reach licensing agreements with Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec” Gutierrez added. “Their refusals to take licenses leave us no choice but to bring legal action to defend our innovations.” The full press release is after the break.

Microsoft Takes Legal Action Against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec for Patent Infringement by Android Devices

Statement from Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing

REDMOND, Wash., March 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Microsoft Corp. today filed legal actions in the International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington against Barnes & Noble, Inc. and its device manufacturers, Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. and Inventec Corporation, for patent infringement by their Android-based e-reader and tablet devices that are marketed under the Barnes & Noble brand.

“The Android platform infringes a number of Microsoft’s patents, and companies manufacturing and shipping Android devices must respect our intellectual property rights. To facilitate that we have established an industry-wide patent licensing program for Android device manufacturers,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Intellectual Property & Licensing. “Other vendors, including HTC, a market leader in Android smartphones, have taken a license under this program, and we have tried for over a year to reach licensing agreements with Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec. Their refusals to take licenses leave us no choice but to bring legal action to defend our innovations and fulfill our responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year to bring great software products and services to market,” he added.

The patents at issue cover a range of functionality embodied in Android devices that are essential to the user experience, including: natural ways of interacting with devices by tabbing through various screens to find the information they need; surfing the Web more quickly, and interacting with documents and e-books.

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_47W6CR65QNWSRIPYCFU4C6VXE4 I

    …MS is just sad because it’s losing the war bigtime across all fields…

    • Juddedwards

      I don’t think it is sad. How would you feel if you spent the time and the money to come up with a method of doing things with the expectation your work would be paid for, but rather than getting paid you get a boot in the backside and told to stuff it? I think you’d not like it so much. If your going to use someone’s work you pay them for it. Nuff said bucko.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GP2WYAHXS6CRUREISWBGPUSUGE Michael

    Imma sue McDonald’s. I made a Hamburger with Ketchup, mustard and pickles on it.

    Then i went to McDonald’s and saw the same thing.

    How dare they use my idea.

    Come one MS, quit grabbing at straws here please.

    • Anonymous

      An excellent analysis of patent law. Ha.

    • Jeffb34

      What burger do they sell with mustard?

      • Anonymous

        I know huh, case dismissed.

    • http://twitter.com/rdubmu Robert

      you forgot the onions.

    • http://twitter.com/rdubmu Robert

      you forgot the onions.

  • Anonymous

    Barnes not Barns…

    • http://www.bgr.com Andrew Munchbach

      Fixed. Thank you!

  • BNalumni

    Interested to see how this pans out since BN are a huge m$ client and usually settle lawsuits

  • Anonymous

    Suing B&N over that piece of crap Nook is like playing basketball with a 3 year-old and calling him for double dribble.

    • Anonymous

      Nook Color is an excellent tablet for those that know how to root it.

      • Anonymous

        Ah. So the key to making the Nook excellent is to first void its warranty. Nice.

        And “those who know how to root it” would “root” a girlfriend if they had one.

      • Anonymous

        uh great joke, “root a girlfriend”. knee slapper.

        rooting a nook could be done by a child, its that easy. going back to stock is just as easy, so no voiding warranty.

      • Supall

        If you end up paying for her upkeep, you damn well root her. How else can you make her do things for you the way you want it to?

  • Anonymous

    Must be budget submission time at Microsoft.

  • Anonymous

    Suing over what?

  • Sal

    Any company will do the same. Companies pay milions of dollars for their people to develop and innovate. So quit talking shit about MS and other companies. That’s what happens when you steal ideas from other people.

    • Chut Pata

      OK. So just ideas count, and not the work to make the idea work? The way I see it, when MS developed MS-DOS, they stole the idea from DR-DOS. When they developed windows they stole the idea from Apple. When they developed Excel they stole the idea from Lotus Inc. When they developed Word stole the idea from WordStar or WordPerfect.

      Is there any idea that MS did not steal from others, and just came up by themselves?

      • Sal

        Oh really! Apple would not exist if it weren’t for Microsoft. How come Windows is #1 in the world? How come it is used everywhere? MS office is also number one and it is used everywhere. Most jobs require MS office. If they stole all the stuff mentioned above how come they did not get sued by the above companies that you just mentioned?

  • xxdesmus

    Of course Microsoft needs to protect their patents — what the hell did you expect? Barnes & Noble refused to accept any kind of licensing terms and then went right ahead and used Microsoft’s patents in the Book. What did they expect would happen? Of course they were going to get sued — if Microsoft doesn’t protect the patents they basically become valueless.

    If Apple did the same thing people would side with them, and yet because it’s Microsoft everyone assumes it must be nefarious.

    • Laggayrnd

      Please, what MS patents? They are making stuff up and taking people to court for only one reason: They are trying to create the perception that developing for Android has costs. At the same time, they are trying to push their POS Windows 7 Phones and trying to get companies to use that instead. It’s not about protecting innovation, it’s about stifling it to make Windows 7 the top dog.

  • http://beenswank.net brandonmccall

    Stop all ya blood clot cryin’.

  • Anonymous

    I think Steve Ballmer is just splitting hairs, no pun intended. Does this mean StayFree should sue Apple?

  • Anonymous

    yeah, either way sounds like Barnes, noble, and company (other guys mentioned) are gonna lose this one. HTC licenses the tech. Even if BN had an argument, by another large company licensing the exact patents MS are suing over, gives those patents credibility.

    • Anonymous

      Which is exactly why Microsoft didn’t charge HTC anything to license these patents. HTC is just being used as a name by Microsoft to lend credibility to these spurious software patents.

      It’s pathetic to see Microsoft competing on this dishonest level.

      Software patents are overly generic and a cancer on innovation.

  • Gunther

    Micro$oft is following a very old pattern here. If you can’t compete, sue. If you don’t have a reason, make one up, see how many people buy it, throw money into the legal system, and get a few companies to pay up or at least start developing for your POS platform. F’ Microsoft.

    • Sal

      No, they can compete. They have the money and power to do so. You would do the same if somebody took your product and innovation that you worked so hard at. You should ask yourself why Microsoft windows is used by more than One billion people. Name me a platform that is used at work, home and school? Its MICROSOFT. Think before you speak.

  • Anonymous

    Just read the whole stupid claim:
    ‘Their refusals to take licenses leave us no choice but to bring legal action to defend our innovations and fulfill our responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year to bring great software products and services to market,” he added.’

    How come we don’t see those so-called “innovations” and “great software products and services” on Windows imMobile??

  • Scott

    I didn’t think they had enough money left to do this after paying Nokia to use WP7. lol

    • Pinktacoyum

      Your dumb.
      Ms has 49 billion in cash.

  • serpentor

    And in related news… next version of Nook to be powered by WP7.

  • Anonymous

    Fuck you, Microsoft. Software patents are bullshit.

  • http://twitter.com/jammbalaja jambalaja

    Microsoft is the Devil. ANDROID FTW………………………………..

  • Anonymous

    Uh, Microsoft, hello? Android is open. Can’t sue open.

    • http://twitter.com/rdubmu Robert

      at LouisLouis4, It doesn’t matter if it is open or not. If you are going to make money off of it, and that tech is stolen/copied technology then you can be sued. Google doesn’t make any money off of Android, just off of advertisement when they go to a desktop. The hardware manufactures are the ones who violate the patents except for a few companies like HTC who are partners with Microsoft.

      • Anonymous

        Well, if Microsh¡t would have given us a good Mobile OS there would have been no need for Android or iOS. But, since their platform remains imMobile they can keep it.
        I, personally, would never buy a Windows imMobile device ever again; I would rather go back to a flip phone.

        Do you hear me, Ballmer?? You can keep your buggy missin’ copy/paste, watered down mobile browsin’ MicroCrap and your little dog Ho-ToTo, too!!!

    • Anonymous

      Sure they can, they have money.

  • Anonymous

    Uh, Microsoft, hello? Android is open. Can’t sue open.

  • Steve Hillshire

    Not sure what patents would be violated. Android devices don’t use a stylus…

  • http://twitter.com/christiangeek64 Russell Parks

    “bring legal action to defend our innovations”… translated microsoft jargon … “bring legal action so we can try to make a monopoly”

  • Michale11111

    Got to love Microsoft. I f you can beat them with superior products, sue them. When will they fire that loser Ballmer? Gates should be ashamed of what the company has become.

    • Powderhoundrich

      Its not like they included IE in their OS or anything

  • http://ibusinessprofessional.com video marketing

    Excellent tablet.

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