Microsoft Sues Over Android on Nook

Microsoft (NASDAQ: [[ticker:MSFT]]) announced Monday that it’s suing Barnes & Noble (NYSE: [[ticker:BKS]]) and the bookseller’s manufacturing partners over the Nook e-reader that runs on Google’s Android operating system. Here is a copy of the nine-page lawsuit filed Monday—I didn’t include the many pages of exhibits. It’s not the first time that Microsoft has asserted patent rights regarding Android—indeed, today’s statement from Microsoft vice president Horacio Gutierrez points out that handset maker HTC has participated in Microsoft’s licensing program for Android-based devices. But Microsoft said Barnes & Noble and its partners, Foxconn International Holdings and Inventec, declined that route. The legal actions were filed in U.S. District Court in Washington state and at the International Trade Commission. Pointedly unnamed in the press statement: Google (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GOOG]]) itself.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time. View all posts by Curt Woodward