March 9, 2011 - After over a year of litigation, Barnes & Noble Inc. and Spring Design, Inc. haved settled their patent infringement lawsuit.
Spring Design is the maker of the Alex e-reader, and sued Barnes & Noble in November 2009 for patent infringement. Under the terms of the settlement, Spring Design granted Barnes & Noble a non-exclusive, paid-up and royalty-free license on the entire portfolio of Spring Design patents and patent applications. Financial terms of the settlement are confidential.
Eugene V. DeFelice, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Barnes & Noble, commented on the settlement.
“We are pleased to put this matter behind us," said DeFelice. "NOOK Color™ and NOOK™, together with Spring Design’s patents and patent applications, have become two of our most innovative and highly-sought after devices. Barnes & Noble is pleased to add Spring Design’s patents and patent applications as a complementary addition to our rapidly growing digital portfolio."