Barnes & Noble's Nook device features dual screens. Could Amazon pursue legal action to enforce a new patent?

Amazon.com has been awarded a patent for an electronic reading device featuring dual displays, a key piece of intellectual property since Engadget notes that Barnes & Noble's new Nook device clearly features "an electronic ink display and a smaller LCD located next to it."

Amazon first filed for the patent in 2006, and it was just granted today. The inventors are listed as Gregg Zehr and Symon Whitehorn of Amazon Technologies in Los Gatos, California.

Here's the abstract from the filing:

A handheld electronic book reader device is equipped with dual displays. The device includes a first display for presenting visible representations of textual or graphic content related to the electronic book. The device also includes a second display positioned alongside the first display. The second display includes a plurality of graphic elements that correspond to portions of the first display. Also, the second display is responsive to user input to one of the graphic elements to perform an action on the content that is shown in the portion of the first display that corresponds to the one element.

The filing goes on to note that the LCD screen is "touch-sensitive and is responsive to touch input."

The Amazon patent comes amid an ongoing price war for electronic readers, with Sony today reducing the price of its e-reader from $169 to $149.

Engadget notes that Barnes & Noble is already facing legal action from Spring Design related to the development of the Nook.