Discovery.com targeted in patent battle over Amazon Kindle

In March, Discovery Communications, the company responsible for the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet cable networks, filed a patent infringement suit against Amazon.com for its Kindle e-reading device. The patent is property of Discovery founder John S. Hendricks, and was granted in 2007, nearly ten years after it was filed. The company sought damages and royalties from Amazon and its successful Kindle.

Amazon fired back at Discovery on May 15, in two separate legal actions. The first is a categorical denial of all of Discovery's complaints and countersuit in the US District Court in Delaware. And the second is a suit in US District Court in Western Washington, claiming that the Discovery Channel's online store uses search and recommendation methods that infringe on four of Amazon's patents. Like Discovery's suit beforehand, it asks for royalties and damages sufficient to compensate for the infringement.

Amazon's defense against Discovery's complaint asserts that it has not infringed on Discovery's patent, and even if it did, the alleged infringement would be non-actionable under Title 35 of the US. Code. Furthermore, Amazon goes on to accuse Discovery Communications of inequitable conduct in its patent filing, meaning the company failed to cite known prior art -- including its own patents that would have been material prior art. Amazon goes on for 20 paragraphs in the defense, citing dozens of instances of withheld or misrepresented prior art.

Amazon countersued Discovery on eight counts in the Delaware Court case, and asked that Discovery's complaint be dismissed, damages and legal fees be paid, and that Discovery and its cohorts be blocked from filing further patent litigation on the issue. If a jury finds Discovery guilty of infringement, Amazon asks for treble damages and an injunction on anyone infringing on its patents.