Legal Ramifications of new Amazon Patent on Dual Screens ?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/06/a...rnes-and-nobl/

Are we going to have to pay more for any new Edges or will Amazon even grant Entourage use of the patent?

We have our own patents, and I highly doubt this could cover the eDGe...but if you read closely:

in plain English, it potentially covers any device with both an electronic paper display and a second smaller LCD display next to it.

USPTO strikes again.

Rather than going around suing everybody, I suspect that Amazon is going to try to leverage this development into controlling distribution on non-Kindle devices. As I've said in previous threads, Amazon isn't making money off of selling the Kindles--they're margins lie in selling the content. Rather than seeing this news as a blow to eDGe users, I think that it has the potential to improve the functionality of the device if the upshot is that a "Kindle for eDGe" that allows Amazon ebook purchases to be displayed on the eInk comes about.

I can't imagine that enTourage (or the venture capitalists behind it) are all that pleased with this development, as I'm sure that they were hoping to generate some revenue from selling content. But they have a chance to make this into an opportunity if they can somehow negotiate acceptable terms with Amazon. They may lose a good chunk of the revenue stream generated by content sales by partnering with Amazon; however, they probably broaden the appeal of the eDGe by allowing access to a much larger (and often better priced) eBook store than what enTourage (or others like Sony) currently have.

LOL, good catch.

eDGe's LCD: 10.1"
eDGe's eInk: 9.7"


I'd still really like to see Amazon open up their eBooks to non-Kindle devices (and for enTourage to be amenable to that if acceptable terms can be negotiated).

those patents are stupid as they stop the development of future technology. is like having a patent on a wheel. I am surprised that Edge did not protect themselves. This just proves how easy a business like this can fail. They put the price up to USD539 anyway

Originally Posted by vicinc

those patents are stupid as they stop the development of future technology. is like having a patent on a wheel. I am surprised that Edge did not protect themselves. This just proves how easy a business like this can fail. They put the price up to USD539 anyway

I'd be less worried about the eDGe and more concerned about the Alex ! The patent is clearly aimed at devices where the LCD is secondary to the 'main' e-ink screen. Long live Pixel Qi ! e-ink-esque and LCD in one !

I 'm getting a hint of "see I told you so" in your tone, Vic.

and to reply to your 90% of startup businesses fail in the first 2 years......that oft quoted urban myth. I think the statistic is more like "of the startup businesses which fail, 90% of those fail within 2 years", representing a very different but probably more accurate statistic altogether.

You should read the original patent before make hype http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...634&RS=7748634

Also, the big company usually patent not in order to pursuade small companies, but to protect themself from patent ruts.

Originally Posted by borisb

People should re-read post #2 above by an enTourage staff member, and added detail by Walt in #4. The patent says a smaller LCD screen, but the eDGe has a larger LCD screen. Also, enTourage does have its own patents and therein "protection". enTourage is NOT run by a group of idiots...

Exactly what I meant. Amazon probably didn't envisage an eink reader with a larger LCD screen. I just thought it a bit ironic that the very device Vic has been evangelizing is the one more likely to be burned by any retrogressive patent litigation. I have no doubt the eDGe is clear.

Originally Posted by robot

You should read the original patent before make hype http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...634&RS=7748634

Also, the big company usually patent not in order to pursuade small companies, but to protect themself from patent ruts.

Interesting:

Under what is claimed section

14. The handheld electronic device of claim 5, wherein the second display has a height approximately equal to a height of the first display.

oh, well, keep reading.

Originally Posted by drsteve

Interesting:

Under what is claimed section

14. The handheld electronic device of claim 5, wherein the second display has a height approximately equal to a height of the first display.

Hmmmm. "Handheld" would be a strech in my opinion. A phone is handheld. The heftier edge, portable. Then again, lawyers interpret almost every word as flexibly as possible. My name is on corporate patents where methods, mechanisms, devices, and instruments (all very loaded patent vocabulary) are mostly software.

Originally Posted by kenjennings

Hmmmm. "Handheld" would be a strech in my opinion. A phone is handheld. The heftier edge, portable. Then again, lawyers interpret almost every word as flexibly as possible. My name is on corporate patents where methods, mechanisms, devices, and instruments (all very loaded patent vocabulary) are mostly software.

If Amazon did decide to get nasty it would come down to who could afford the best lawyers. That's why the huge corporations tend to win in situations like this, where interpretation is the main issue.

You have to admire Amazon's foresight though when drawing up their list of claims.

I think you are right, though, Ken in that the key word is 'handheld'.

It's the Alex clones and nooky-likeys that should be shivering in their boots.

That's what patent trolls usually do. They don't ordinarily go to the trouble of developing a product themselves. They just hang out and wait long enough for companies to hang themselves implementing obvious solutions, and then sic the lawyers on them for maximum extortion fees.

Ultimately the consumer is the one affected, as prices rise. I bought a nook the other day, when the price dropped on the wifi model, for recreational reading those times the edge is too big to tag along (like the beach).