Amazon Countersues Discovery Over E-Commerce Patents

Now it’s Amazon’s turn: the online retailer is suing Discovery (NSDQ: DISAB) Communications (NSDQ: DISCA) over four patents related to e-commerce, TechFlash reported (via WSJ).Amazon’s suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in WesternWashington on Friday, specifically concerns patents for search andrecommendation.

In March, Discovery initiated legal action against Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN)over e-commerce patents. In particular, that initial suit alleged thatAmazon’s sale of the Kindle and its electronic book delivery infringeson one of the patents owned by Discovery and its founder John S.Hendricks on a digital content and delivery system that was filed inthe 1990s, but wasn’t issued until Nov. 20, 2007. The Discovery suitwas filed in a U.S. District Court in Delware.

Amazon did not specify what damages or penalties it is seekingagainst the cable TV operator. In its suit, Discovery did not seek tohalt sales of the Kindle, and so is likely expecting to get a cut ofits sales, assuming Amazon is able to build on the enormous momentumgenerated around the e-reader so far.

• Updated: Discovery Sues Amazon For Patent Infringement Over Kindle E-Book Delivery