UPDATE 1-Barnes & Noble sued by eReader maker Spring Design

* Lawsuit claims Barnes & Noble copied dual screen design (Adds no comment from Barnes & Noble, details from lawsuit, background)

By Alexandria Sage

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Spring Design, a maker of electronic readers, is suing Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N), claiming the bookseller's newly launched Nook reader illegally copied its dual-screen design after the two discussed a possible partnership.

Spring Design said Barnes & Noble used its proprietary design to better compete with Amazon.com's market-leading (AMZN.O) Kindle, while failing to disclose its intentions to make its own device.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, Spring Design said it had shared the design of its Alex eReader with Barnes & Noble under protection of a nondisclosure agreement, hoping to strike a deal to bring a device to market.

According to Spring Design, Barnes & Noble praised the features of the Alex eReader, but did not say that it intended to use them until it publicly unveiled its Nook eReader last month. [ID:nN20319058]

Spring Design said on Tuesday that it expects to launch its Alex reader in January.

A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman said the company does not comment on litigation.

Spring Design said it first filed patents for its Alex reader, which features a dual screen and runs on Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android operating system, in 2006. The Nook also runs on Android and features two screens, one of which is used for reading and the other for browsing.