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LSI suit: Barnes & Noble's Nook uses stolen technology [The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.]
[July 29, 2011]

LSI suit: Barnes & Noble's Nook uses stolen technology [The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.]


(Morning Call (Allentown, PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 29--Barnes & Noble is part of an innovation changing the face of the publishing industry thanks to its Nook electronic book reader, but LSI Corp. says the device's link to the bookseller's online store relies on stolen technology.



Agere Systems and LSI Corp. in a suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Allentown, allege Barnes & Noble's Nook eReaders make use of patented technology to connect to 3G and WiFi data networks and to process electronic music files.

The suit alleges that the Nook infringes on 11 patents issued to Agere, LSI and Agere's precursor, Lucent Technologies. California-based LSI Corp., which makes semiconductors for hard-disk drives, network storage systems and telecommunications equipment, bought Agere in 2007 and operates some of its facilities in Allentown and Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Both companies are named as plaintiffs in the suit.


Nook eReaders are tablet computers that allow users to wirelessly download and read electronic versions of books and periodicals and store and play music. The Nook competes with similar devices sold by Amazon, Sony and other electronics manufacturers.

New York-based Barnes & Noble credits the Nook with boosting the company's online sales by 65 percent in the last year. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment on the suit.

An attorney for Agere and LSI did not return calls.

Experts say legal showdowns between patent-holders and new players in the consumer electronics industry have exploded in recent years.

"As companies feel shut out, they see patents as a way to get back into the game," said Daniel Cahoy, associate professor of business law at Penn State's Smeal College of Business.

By enforcing patents when other inventors infringe upon them, companies can make money off technology they own but don't actively market, Cahoy said.

An extreme example of that strategy is that of the "patent troll," a company that owns thousands of patents but doesn't actually produce anything, said Youngmoo Kim, assistant dean of media technology in the college of engineering at Drexel University.

Kim said the rise in the number of patent disputes is a symptom of problems with the United States' patent process. The U.S. Trademark and Patent Office receives more applications than it can properly process. That leads to patents that overlap, Kim said.

Michael Norris, a publishing industry analyst in Stamford, Conn., said the patent fight will ultimately have little effect on the Nook. First-time electronic book buyers aren't concerned about the technology, but rather how it feels and what the reading experience is like.

"Whatever happens with this lawsuit, shoppers aren't going to notice and [will] keep buying eReaders," Norris said.

Microsoft Corp. also sued Barnes & Noble and its partners in March, alleging the Nook's Android operating system violates several of the software giant's patents. Microsoft also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission to block importation of the devices.

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