Can the baggage of one of its manufacturing partners burn Amazon? It seems unlikely, but that could be the case if a federal court grants the permanent injunction that one company is seeking.
Copytele, a company that licenses out its patents to other companies, has filed a lawsuit that in part seeks for the company E Ink, which makes the technology behind e-readers like the Kindle and Nook’s screens, to stop production of those displays. Copytele claims E Ink illegally obtained the patents required to make them. Because E Ink is the only company that makes those screens, this could mean that Kindles and Nooks go off the market, at least for some period of time.
To be sure, E Ink technology is only used in the no-frills e-reader models – the gray with black text, non-LCD screens, unlike the display on a Kindle Fire, which is more of a common tablet. So on a scale of old school Game Boy to iPad, E Ink falls more on the monochromatic end.
The trail leading back to Copytele is a bit complex. The company has filed two lawsuits. First, Copytele is suing AU Optronics (AUO), a Taiwanese technology manufacturer, and E Ink for “AUO’s breach of contract and fraud, and E Ink’s aiding, abetting and conspiracy to effectuate AUO’s fraud,” the lawsuit says. E Ink declined to comment. And both AUO and Amazon did not return requests for comment.
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Saturday, February 09, 2013
Could a patent dispute take the Kindle off the market?
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