Android is focus of Microsoft lawsuit filed over Nook

Microsoft has filed a patent lawsuit against Barnes & Noble that centers on the Android operating system used in the bookseller's Nook e-reader.

Without actually suing Google itself, Microsoft contends that in developing Android, Google infringed on Microsoft patents. Earlier, Microsoft sued Motorola over devices that use Android.

"Together with the patents already asserted in the course of our litigation against Motorola, today's actions bring to 25 the total number of Microsoft patents in litigation for infringement by Android smartphones, tablets and other devices," Horacio Gutierrez, deputy general counsel, wrote in a Microsoft blog post Monday.

Barnes & Noble, based in New York, declined to comment on the case.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Western Washington, also names the Nook's manufacturers, Foxconn, International Holdings and Inventec. Microsoft also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.

Gutierrez said Android features on the Nook violate Microsoft patents that create a tabbed control window, display Web pages while images are downloaded in the background and allow readers to select text on the device.

Microsoft said Amazon.com pays a license fee for its Kindle e-reader.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com.