You might recall that sweet Android-powered eBook reader from Spring Design called the Alex that we talked about last month. Spring Design has filed a suit against Barnes & Noble over its recently announced Nook eReader for alleged IP infringement.

According to Spring, it was in talks with Barnes & Noble to partner to distribute the Alex when executives at Barnes & Noble misappropriated the trade secrets and violated the non-disclosure agreements in place between the two firms. Spring claims that Barnes & Noble made no indications of using the features of the Alex reader in its own product until the Nook was officially announced.

“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.”

Spring Design