Discovery sues Amazon over Kindle, rushes reality show into production to cover trial
By Donald Melanson 
posted March 17th 2009 6:44PM
posted March 17th 2009 6:44PM
It's not exactly one of the usual suspects you'd expect to see taking umbrage with the Kindle, but it looks cable programming empire Discovery Communications has some issues of its own with the handheld, and it's now taking its complaints to court. Apparently, Discovery thinks that the Kindle infringes on one of its patents that covers the "secure, encrypted system for the selection, transmission, and sale of electronic books," which it received on November 20th, 2007 -- coincidentally just a day after the first Kindle launched on November 19th, 2007. As a result, Discovery is seeking some "fair compensation" from Amazon, although it isn't completely harsh on the Kindle and Kindle 2, saying that they are "important and popular content delivery systems." For its part, Amazon is unsurprisingly staying mum on the matter, and the lawsuit is now in the hands of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
[Via Broadcasting & Cable]
[Via Broadcasting & Cable]
DOWNRANK!
And it seems nobody can make a profit anymore, so they patent vague things to bring down other companies.
What's next, the Discovery App Store patent lawsuit?
Whats next? Discovery sues someone because they infringe on their patent for lousy programming?
(Mythbusters excluded)
Remember "Beyond 2000" and "Beyond Tomorrow"?
Monster garage was cool......all the bike/cars/planes programming.
Discovery had some good programming.
Now its just midgets and people with 27 kids.
Yeah OctoMom........./end sarcasm
Dirty jobs is pretty cool...
Beyond 2000 and Beyond Tomorrow, as well as Invention and Next Step!
The golden age of tech television.
Loved Next Step.!!! Forgot about that one.
My Discovery Channel show wasn't a big crock, mate! YOU ARE MAKIN' ME AGRO AND WILL BITE YOURS BUM!!
I'd like to know what morons are working int he patent office lately. I'm dealing with something equally as insane. Some random patent troll claims to hold a patent on searching images that are stored digitally but they are only suing people (pictage) so far based on the sale of those images which apparently they also got a patent for.
What happened to the common sense regarding patents? I thought if it were obvious you couldn't patent it anymore. Guess not.
How does anyone get awarded a patent for selling anything electronically in the year 2007?!
Bunch of dckwads.
They didn't build it, they have no right to it. If they win, common sense loses once again.
Wow I just lost a lot of respect for the Discovery Networks. How silly of them to come after the kindle, for a business model they know they would never pursue, at least under the discovery brand. I pity them.
Lol there is prior art. I've been able to buy books from the MS ebook store and save them directly on my pocket pc since 2003.
The patent was filed on September 21, 1999, where's your prior art now?
So, any product launch could be sued because of a patent application that is not yet publicly known, since it has not been granted and thus not published?
Sounds like the lawmakers hit their heads on all the nails with that one. Again.
If you're right, that is.
I'm selling all of my stock in Discovery Communications. That'll teach'em.
so 3 shares?
Yup, and putting it all in AIG ... Now, that seems like such a nice company.
wow, these are interesting times we live in...going to see a lot of precedents set, for better or worse...
Yeah, I feel like everyone is killing each other off to survive... Not good.
This reminds me of amazon's own frivolous lawsuit against the kindle hack webpage. What comes around goes around I suppose.
They didn't sue in Texas, so Amazon should be good to go.
Discovery can't sue Amazon...its up in space right now docked with the space station!
I lol'd so hard i pee'd myself a little. Thanks.
wouldn't the kindle itself be prior art then?
No, because it depends on when they filed for the patent, not when it was granted
Discovery channel FTW.
If it becomes too big of deal, couldn't Amazon just buy the Discovery Channel?
lol discovery has been making animal porn longgggg before amazon started selling them tapes hahah...
im am sad that discovery channel stooped this low... in the bin with History channel !
sighh.. real tv has gone to shit... thank god for boomerang & adult swim
"...which it received on November 20th, 2007 -- coincidentally just a day after the first Kindle launched on November 19th, 2007."
Well, seeing as how it takes several months (typically years) to approve a patent, it does seem like just a coincidence and nothing else.
Wait... was the patent filed the day after the Kindle, or awarded? Because the patent process takes time.
Not that the lawsuit isn't frivolous. Just sayin': the patent may be somewhat legit.
how much you wanna bet that the amazon lawyers try to prove that the patent awarded to discovery was invalid in the first place?
Yeah, just like in every single patent lawsuit every filed in the history of the judicial system.
You are so insightful.
except that "on-click" patent!!!
I'll take a nice cheap, cordles, batteryless, paperback over an expensive complected device intended to do a simple task.
i'm not a patent or legal aficionado but it seems logical to me that amazon would have a patent for the kindle which would have been filled before it's release?
A classic "submarine patent" that has been trying to convince the PTO to approve it since 1999. Since Gemstar was doing this same stuff prior to 1999 with their Softbook Reader I suspect proving this patent invalid due to prior art isn't going to cause Amazon to even break a sweat.
And for those that don't know: Gemstar == Reader's Digest.
Really, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware? Isn't that kind of like suing someone in Narnia?
Nope, it's actually a pretty popular venue for patent suits.
Well, I was trying to make joke, and you went ahead and ruined that for me. Thanks, Eric.
I saw some 7-inch media player thing with Discovery Channel branding on it during the Circuit City liquidation. It was a white player that took SD cards. They were selling SD cards loaded with content from TLC & HGTV next to it. Apparently the cards included video and instructions for home improvement projects.
I'm guessing they filed this patent for that device.
I wish I would have made it back to CC before they finally closed to pick one up. The packaging said you could use your own SD cards in the player and view your own videos, music and photos.
Encrypted communications are an old concept, and they have been used for electronic sales forever. The US Patent Office has granted Discovery a patent to sell and deliver books. I seriously doubt that anyone who reviews "software" (most are just business method ones in disguise) patents actually understands them. The fools should just invalidate them all and be done with it. All the excessive suing that goes on in America only funnels more money to lawyers. One less avenue to exploit will only benefit society.