Barnes and Noble Seeks Government Investigation Of Microsoft Patent Claims
Barnes and Noble Seeks Government Investigation Of Microsoft Patent Claims
Posted 11/08/2011 at 4:00pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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Over the last year, Microsoft has embarked on a crusade to secure license fees from device makers that use the Android operating system. While Google provides the Android source code for free, Microsoft claims to own patents infringed by Android. most OEMs have capitulated and payed up, but Barnes and Noble, which sells the Nook line of e-readers, has gone to court. Today, the bookseller turned tablet-pusher has asked the feds to get involved. B&N claims that regulators should investigate Microsoft for attempting to drive competition out of business.
Barnes and Noble doesn’t pull any punches in calling calling Microsoft’s five Android patents “trivial and outmoded.” Already Samsung, HTC, and assorted ODMs are paying Microsoft for every Android device sold. Barnes and Noble claims that Redmond is seeking to prevent it from competing with upcoming devices by increasing costs on its low-cost reading devices.
Microsoft has asked the International Trade Commission to block imports of Nook devices, but these actions usually fail. The civil case is set to go ahead in February, and neither side seems likely to back down.
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RUSENSITIVESWEETNESS
November 09, 2011 at 5:15am
Why is it a patent isn't just for an invention, but for the vague notion of something you might do one day....possibly?
Sliding your finger across a touch screen? How the hell can someone even think to patent that? It's akin to taking out a patent for walking, breathing, or--like the other guy said--wiping your ass!
Shoot the lobbyists. Enact common sense laws.
Morete
November 09, 2011 at 3:12am
Remember the Golden Rule.... He who has the gold makes the rules.
None of us like it, but it's been that way since the beginning of time and it will be that way until the end of time. No use getting stressed about it.
Engelsstaub
November 08, 2011 at 6:54pm
Good for B&N. Someone needs to finally call these pricks on their extortion of open-source. If Apple's lawyers weren't just as big-time and sleazy as Microsoft's they'd be trying to "sue profits" out of them too.
This is just MS trying to "catch up" in the "We Can't Innovate in the Tablet or Smartphone Market" department. It's exactly the same thing they do to vendors like openSUSE because so many would rather not deal with Windows Virus Server for their critical business needs.
kevaskous
November 08, 2011 at 9:29pm
Your slander of the windows server platform is both unwarrented and baseless, it is extremely likely 50+% of evrything web you do is built on it, get over yourself.
Engelsstaub
November 09, 2011 at 1:32am
My "slander" was based on fact; therefore it was not slander. (I'm assuming you mean the word "Virus" which I added.) It may have been unwarranted, but it was certainly not baseless. I would argue that more servers are Unix-based. Linux servers are well over 60% of web-based servers. There's a very good reason for this: "Windows 'Virus' Server," as I said before.
Research your "facts" and then get back to me with your fanboy-perspective.
Whitechip
November 08, 2011 at 8:36pm
You are assuming they don't have patents that was your first mistake.
Engelsstaub
November 09, 2011 at 1:36am
Perhaps. I guess we'll see, won't we? Now that someone is big enough that they don't have to just lay down and take it.
ghost6007
November 08, 2011 at 5:51pm
Wooohooo! I am going to patent the process of "wiping your behind" and then charge ppl every time they wipe their @$$.
All these BS Patent wars are nothing but tools for rich corporations to kill other rich corporations.
US patent laws may have protected the little guy back when they were enacted but today it seems they are complete opposite of what they were designed to do.
Scatter
November 08, 2011 at 6:52pm
Rather than just dismiss every patent that I don't agree with I'd rather investiagte them and see if they're justified. If some company had the foresight to patent a design or process which later caught on to become somewhat standard then good for them. Its the patents that are being filed after the fact that should be fought and overturned.
Goolashe
November 10, 2011 at 12:06pm
It's rather wrong though to patent something and then make it yourself. That's just having an idea and then waiting for someone else to do the hard work of bringing it to life, then try and take it from them just because you thought of something very similar before but were too lazy to take the steps to make it, or you didn't own the other patents to make it.
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