Spring Design, creator of the upcoming Alex e-reader, found itself suffering
a legal defeat on Dec. 1 when the U.S. District Court for the Northern District
of California turned down its injunction to halt sales of Barnes & Noble’s
Nook e-reader. Spring Design alleges that the Nook, which is currently
experiencing shipping delays due to what Barnes & Noble calls heavy
consumer demand, is essentially a copy of the Alex device.
On Nov. 2, Spring Design originally announced that it was suing Barnes &
Noble over the similarities between the e-readers. Court records show that
Spring Design filed the first amended complaint on Nov. 11; the court conducted
a further hearing on the matter on Nov. 30.
"Spring Design unfortunately had to take appropriate action to protect
its intellectual property rights," Eric Kmiec, Spring Design’s vice
president of sales and marketing, said in a statement issued on that date.
"We showed the Alex e-book design to Barnes & Noble in good faith with
the intention of working together to provide a superior dual screen e-book to
the market."
Spring
Design ended up announcing the Alex on Oct. 19, the day before Barnes &
Noble debuted the Nook in a high-profile event in New York
City. The Alex includes a 6-inch monochrome e-ink
display, paired with a 3.5-inch color LCD touch screen capable of multimedia
content. It runs on the Google Android operating system.
The Nook likewise includes a 6-inch e-ink display, paired to an iPhone-style
touch screen that allows users to navigate the bookseller’s online e-bookstore
and purchase texts, and runs on Google Android. Barnes & Noble told eWEEK
in an e-mail on Nov. 3 that it has no comment on pending litigation, as a
matter of policy. The company is claiming that, due to heavy preorders, a very
limited number of Nook devices will actually be available in its
bricks-and-mortar stores over the holiday season, and
that customers ordering online after Nov. 30 will not see their e-readers delivered
until early January 2010.
Although Spring Design moved to stop sales of the Nook, the San Jose
Division of the United States District Court for the Northern District of
California evidently did not agree with the company’s reasoning.
"Based on the papers submitted to date and oral argument, the Court
DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction," read
the court order, signed by United States District Judge James Ware on Dec.
1. "The Court finds that at this time there is a genuine dispute over
whether the [Nook] was derived from information disclosed by Plaintiff to Defendant
or was the product of earlier independent development by Defendant."
Moreover, "Plaintiff’s motion was heard on the day that Defendant
launched its [Nook] product, at which time Plaintiff did not have a commercial
product available," added the order. "Thus, the requested preliminary
injunction halting the sale of Defendant’s product would alter the status quo,
not preserve it."
The court case itself, however, will continue.
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