Amazon awarded very important eReader patent
PrintAmazon was just awarded a very, very interesting patent on specific aspects of eReader devices, and it might have a huge impact on the Nook and others in the market. Among the many pieces of the patent, they were awarded a design patent on:
A handheld electronic device comprising: a housing; an electronic paper display disposed in the housing and having a first surface area; and a liquid crystal display (LCD) disposed in the housing proximate the electronic paper display, the LCD having a second surface area that is smaller than the first surface area of the electronic paper display.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot like the Nook. It will be very interesting to see whether Amazon uses this patent as a stick (beating B&N with it) or as a carrot, and convincing B&N to work with them in some way.
Trending Now
Current Issue
Noted and Quoted
“My heart’s with what we’re doing in Firestone. My stomach hurts when I think about NYPL, the first great library I ever worked in, turned into a vast internet cafe where people can read the same Google Books, body parts and...
Anthony Grafton, Princeton (N.J.) University professor of history, comparing the renovations of New York Public Library’s Schwarzman Building and Princeton’s Firestone Library, “A tale of two libraries and a revolution,” Daily Princetonian, Apr. 2.
American Libraries Magazine | 50 East Huron | Chicago, IL 60611 | 2012© American Library Association | Staff Login
Comments
Weird.
Very interesting indeed. Did B&N build the Nook based on information from Amazon and scoop them? Or did Amazon try to patent a bunch of similar things in the hope that if they couldn’t make money selling it themselves, they could let other people take the risk and then profit on the lawsuits/settlements later? Seems like an odd strategy.