This week: the lawsuit against Amazon you have heard about, and the
lawsuit against Amazon nobody has heard about. Plus, defendants launch
retaliatory lawsuits against a small software company and the world's
largest software company; an Oregon lawyer-inventor creates a new batch
of litigation; a Scott Harris suit moves to the defendant's home turf; and
the bell rings on yet another round in Blackboard v. Desire2Learn's patent spat over
educational software.
Going After Amazon, Part I (or Throw the e-Book at 'Em)
Discovery Communications Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc., 09-cv-00178, D. Delaware, filed 3/17/09.
This one has been well-cover covered: see MarketWatch, WSJ, and CNET, among others; see also Discovery's press release.
The CNET story includes Discovery's non-response to Greg Sandoval's
question: even if it wanted to, is there a Discovery
Communication unit that could even build an e-reader to compete with the Kindle? ("We are
only focused on the Kindle at this time," says Discovery.) Discovery Communications has been on the receiving end
of a few patent lawsuits over the past decade, but has never before
filed as a plaintiff. Discovery is represented by Michael Jacobs of Morrison Foerster, the San Francisco IP lawyer best known for pummeling SCO on behalf of Novell.
Going After Amazon, Part II (or, Please make a donation. Really. We insist.)
The Tobin Family Education And Health Foundation et al. v Amazon.Com, Inc., 09-cv-00160, M.D. Florida, filed 3/17/09.