The mouse that roared: Barnes & Noble refuses to roll over for Microsoft

The number of companies paying royalties to Microsoft allegedly to avoid infringing Android operating system patents continues to grow … but there is one holdout. Refusing to join in the lemming cliff-jump, Barnes & Noble first played the antitrust card (more on this in February’s IP Management & Valuation), and now has introduced (and continues to augment) the prior art card.

The initial, impressive, 45-page filing leads with Netscape browsers from 1995, invokes earlier word processing patents, how-to books from 1994 and 1995, including AOL’s internet guide for Macintosh users (!) and innovations at Adobe Systems, and addresses each of the patents in question. (Groklaw is following developments closely.)