Microsoft vs Apple vs Android: ‘J’accuse!’
At this precise moment, when the Android OS was starting to gain momentum, being adopted by more and more mobile device developers, Microsoft, developer of the Windows Phone 7, is filing another lawsuit against Android, slightly hinting at being somehow a means of giving pause to the Android OS. Microsoft is suing Barnes & Noble’s Nook for violating its patents, covering a broad range of functionality, including “interacting with documents and e-books” and “natural ways of interacting with devices by tabbing through various screens.” Microsoft is filing suit against the Nook manufacturers, Foxconn and Inventec Corporation at the same time.
“The Android platform infringes a number of Microsoft’s patents, and companies manufacturing and shipping Android devices must respect our intellectual property rights,” Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for intellectual property & Licensing, wrote in a March 21 statement. “To facilitate that, we have established an industry-wide patent licensing program for Android device manufacturers.”
Microsoft supports its position saying that their position is owed to Barnes & Noble’s reluctance to participate in Microsoft’s patent licensing program for Android devices. This time Microsoft is firing at a more or less new target, meaning an e-reader, as in the past Android-related suits targeted smartphones in particular. A pertinent example is Microsoft’s legal battle against Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that was carried out last year.
The mobile industry is quite tensed this week as the above mentioned litigation is not the only one taking place. Apple as well is entering the court, this time against Amazon, for using its ‘app store’ mark. What is interesting to notice is that Amazon is about to launch its own online app store for Android devices (the ‘Amazon Appstore’) and Apple’s strike is viewed by many as indirectly aimed at Android.
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