[LINK] ebook lawsuit; Borders shipping; Angusborders public float

[Jan Whitaker]

 From Publishers Lunch newsletter:

Maker of Patented Dual-Screen Reader Sues Barnes & Noble Over Nook
Remember the confusion when a company called Spring Design announced 
their "Alex" dual-screen ereader the day before Barnes & Noble
unveiled nook and people wondered if the two companies had worked 
together? Now Spring Design says they have sued BN, alleging that the 
retailer "misappropriated trade secrets and violated the parties' 
non-disclosure agreement when it copied Alex' features" for nook.

VP of sales and marketing Eric Kmiec says, "We showed the Alex e-book 
design to Barnes & Noble in good faith with the intention of working 
together to provide a superior dual screen e-book to the market." The 
company recounts that "since the beginning of 2009 Spring and Barnes 
& Noble worked within a non-disclosure agreement, including many 
meetings, emails and conference calls with executives ranging up to 
the president of Barnes and Noble.com, discussing confidential 
information regarding the features, functionality and capabilities of Alex."
<http://click.publisherslunchdaily.com/cp/redirect.php?u=NTAwNnwzNDQ4OXxqd2hpdEBqYW53aGl0YWtlci5jb218MzU5MjU0fDc2MDIyMjM2fDU0OTI1Nw==&id=2479441>Announcement 


Bookselling: Borders Will Ship It If They Don't Have It; Leading 
Australian Chains May Go Public
We've always wondered why any (and every) bookstore--chain or 
indie--doesn't offer to ship you for free any book that is not in 
stock. After all, in an internet-everywhere age, customers know they 
can go to any browser and accomplish the same thing. But Borders 
appears to be the first to figure this out, announcing today a 
"promise to customers that if they do not find an item in stock in a 
Borders store, and that item is among the more than one million 
titles available on Borders.com, Borders will find it and pay the 
shipping costs to the customer's home." The offer suffers a little 
bit from a lame cut-off of December 16 "as the final date items can 
be located and reach customers in time for Christmas."
<http://click.publisherslunchdaily.com/cp/redirect.php?u=NTAwNnwzNDQ4OXxqd2hpdEBqYW53aGl0YWtlci5jb218MzU5MjU0fDc2MDIyMjM2fDU0OTI1Nw==&id=2479442>Announcement

In Australia, the private equity owners of the major book chain 
group--comprising Angus Borders in Australia, New Zealand and 
Singapore; and Whitcoulls in New Zealand--hope to launch a public 
offering before Christmas. The "heightened speculation" is fueled by 
a recent share offering for Australia's department store group Myer. 
According to this account, the bookstores say the incorporation of 
Borders helped revenue rise 52 percent in 2008-09 to $685 million 
(Australian), with ebitda more than tripling to $42.4 million. That 
just shows you what can happen when you have a dominant physical 
chain and no Amazon to worry about.
<http://click.publisherslunchdaily.com/cp/redirect.php?u=NTAwNnwzNDQ4OXxqd2hpdEBqYW53aGl0YWtlci5jb218MzU5MjU0fDc2MDIyMjM2fDU0OTI1Nw==&id=2479443>SmartCompany 



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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