Discovery Communications has sued Amazon, claiming that both the Kindle and Kindle 2 infringe on a patent filed by Discovery founder, John S. Hendricks.
According to WebNewswer, the company had patented “a secure, encrypted system for the selection, transmission and sale of electronic books” during the 1990s. Here’s a copy of the suit filed in U.S District Court in Delaware.
Discovery’s general counsel had this statement: “The Kindle and Kindle 2 are important and popular content delivery systems. We believe they infringe our intellectual property rights, and that we are entitled to fair compensation. Legal action is not something Discovery takes lightly. Our tradition as an inventive company has produced considerable intellectual property assets for our shareholders, and today’s infringement litigation is part of our effort to protect and defend those assets.”
