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Looking at the above image it is hard not to see the similarities between the Barnes & Noble Nook and the other ebook reader which comes courtesy of Spring Design. That other ebook reader is called the Alex reader, and although many initially thought it was a copycat of the Nook, it seems that is the opposite. Based on a recent press release, Spring Design, on behalf of the Alex reader have filed an intellectual property lawsuit against Barnes & Noble and the Nook.

The suit is claiming that “Barnes & Noble misappropriated trade secrets and violated the parties’ non-disclosure agreement when it copied Alex’ features into its recently announced Nook e-book.”

“Spring Design unfortunately had to take the appropriate action to protect its intellectual property rights,” said Spring Design Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Eric Kmiec. “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.”

Otherwise the details of the lawsuit are pretty light at this point, but I am sure this is not the last we will hear of this story. It should be interesting to see what the outcome will bring, but either way it should mean some good press for both readers alike. That said, despite look, the Barnes & Noble Nook does have one nice feature that the Alex reader does not. The Nook already has a built-in book store, where the Alex reader was noted as being in discussion “and enlisting major content partners.”

Read [Business Wire]