Barnes & Noble is forced to fight this one from a position of relative weakness because it does not have its own patent portfolio from which to mount defensive counterclaims. The patent misuse theory works insofar as it goes, assuming it can be proved, but the evidence presented is sketchy and only time will tell on that one. This case, though, does illustrate that Android remains the waif child of the mobile device industry, the one who gets periodic beatings, whether from Apple, Oracle, Microsoft, or any other entrenched proprietary player, with software patents often serving as the whip. Meanwhile, Google is frantically scrambling to buy up its own patent portfolios and is filing its own patents like mad to position for the future. A fascinating spectacle, to say the least, and Groklaw once again gives us a front-row view of some of the goings on.