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Discovery Communications, the company behind the Discovery Channel, has sued Amazon.com for allegedly violating a patent on electronic book technology with the Kindle.

Discovery filed the patent infringement suit against Amazon in U.S. District Court in Delaware alleging that the sale of both versions of the Kindle violates a patent Discovery received in 2007.

John S. Hendricks

"The Kindle and Kindle 2 are important and popular content delivery systems,"Discovery said in a statement.

"We believe they infringe our intellectual property rights, and that we are entitled to fair compensation. Legal action is not something Discovery takes lightly."

Discovery is seeking damages and royalties to compensate it "for any future infringement" of the patent. Discovery and founder John Hendricks "were significant players in the development of digital content and delivery services in the 1990's," the company said. "Hendricks' work included inventions of a secure, encrypted system for the selection, transmission, and sale of electronic books."

Last month, the Authors Guild raised objections about Amazon's Kindle 2 text-to-speech feature saying it violated audiobook rights. Amazon revised its policy on the feature to allow copyright holders to decide if they want to enable it.