Amazon faces new legal challenge over Kindle

Amazon's Kindle 2 electronic book reader is the target of a new lawsuit from the company behind the Discovery Channel.

Discovery Communications stated in its legal filing (PDF) that Amazon violated its patents regarding copyright protection.

The company claims to hold a patent from the early 1990s which addresses an 'Electronic Book Security and Copyright Protection System', and said that it would seek monetary damages in the case.

"The Kindle and Kindle 2 are important and popular content delivery systems. We believe they infringe our intellectual property rights, and that we are entitled to fair compensation," said Discovery Communications general counsel Joseph LaSala.

"Our tradition as an inventive company has produced considerable intellectual property assets for our shareholders, and today's infringement litigation is part of our effort to protect and defend those assets."

The case is yet another patent spat to include a Silicon Valley heavyweight. In the wake of the Obama administration, many technology firms have begun a push to reform US patent law and provide companies with better protection against patent suits.