• Bloomberg, Wednesday, November 9, 2011 12:19 PM

Barnes & Noble reportedly asked U.S. regulators to investigate whether Microsoft seeks to monopolize the mobile-device market by demanding patent royalties on electronics running on Android. “Microsoft is embarking on a campaign of asserting trivial and outmoded patents against manufacturers of Android devices,” Barnes & Noble said in a recent letter to Gene Kimmelman, the Justice Department’s chief counsel for competition policy, Bloomberg reports.

“Microsoft is attempting to raise its rivals’ costs in order to drive out competition and to deter innovation in mobile devices,” Kimmelman continued. Previously, Microsoft accused Barnes & Noble of infringing five patents and filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, seeking to block imports of the Nook readers, according to Bloomberg.

Barnes & Noble apparently made public four letters and a presentation to the Justice Department in a filing with the commission this week. “Microsoft contends it owns patented inventions that are used in the Android operating system, and has struck licensing deals with companies including Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC Corp., two of the biggest makers of Android phones."

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