Earlier this week IBM filed two patent infringement lawsuits against Amazon.com
that IBM said came after nearly four years of trying to negotiation
with Amazon, Internet Retailer
reported.
Ed Barbini, an IBM spokesperson, said, "These are high-quality patents
and important IBM intellectual property that are core to Amazon.com's
business. In fact, Amazon.com has built its business model on these
patents."
The patents involve "presenting applications in an interactive
service; storing data in an interactive network; presenting advertising
in an interactive service; adjusting hypertext links with weighted user
goals and activities; and ordering items using an electronic catalog."
Amazon is no stranger to patent lawsuits. In the best known-case in the book world, in 1999, it sued
BarnesandNoble.com over what Amazon calls "one-click" patent, which the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is reconsidering as possibly overly
broad.
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Local papers have varying reactions to two new B&N
College stores that aim to serve "civilians" as much as the academic
community.
In St. Petersburg, Fla., some neighbors of the new University of South Florida at St. Petersburg bookstore told the St. Petersburg Times
they were pleased with the addition of the store. One owner of a nearby condo said, "It's a neighborhood
bookstore for everyone," and an artist added, "We're excited to have
it. The focus should be on the quality of their books and the depth of
their selection."
By contrast, some neighbors of the new Johns Hopkins University B&N
in Charles Village, in Baltimore, Md., said there were not enough books
in the store, which has no music and about 25%-30% of titles found
a typical B&N superstore, according to the Baltimore Examiner.
One Hopkins faculty member and Charles Village resident commented: "The
store is just too small. There is not enough square feet to do
everything they want to do."
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Unshelved, the daily library comic strip available at Overdue Media's Web site, has had such a response to its "pimp my bookcart"
series--readers at libraries and schools said they were planning to
"customize, augment or otherwise pimp" their bookcarts--that the site
is having a "pimp my bookcart" contest for "libraries, schools,
businesses and anyone with a bookcart that needs a little something
extra."
Entrants should e-mail
pictures of the pimped-out bookcart, including front, back and sides.
Unshelved artists Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum will judge. First prize
is a $250 gift certificate to the Overdue Media Store and a signed,
custom drawing of the Unshelved character(s) of your choice by Bill.
Runner-up gets a $50 gift certificate. All entries will be posted on
the site.
Get pimping now! Deadline is January 15.
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Kate Kazeniac has been promoted to associate director of publicity from publicity manager for Da Capo Press and Da Capo Lifelong Books.