Is Discovery Communications Working On eBook Reader?

Discovery Communications (DISCA) has filed for a patent on an e-book reader, the Baltimore Sun reported over late last week.

The Sun notes that Discovery, which owns Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and other cable properties, filed a patent for the device in February; but the Sun notes that the patent filing was not made public until last Thursday.

The story reports that “diagrams included with Discovery’s patent application…depict a rectangular device with physical controls for user navigation.” The device would be for reading e-books and “providing for e-commerce.” As the Sun notes, Discovery already holds a patent on some security and copy protection features, and earlier this year sued Amazon.com (AMZN) for alleged infringement by the Kindle. That patent, #7,298,851, for “Electronic Book Security and Copyright Protection System,” was awarded in 2007, an initially was filed in 1999.

The Washington Post, following up on the Sun story, notes that the new Discovery patent filing describers a devices that would also be able to play audio and video files; the Post notes that other e-readers can play audio, but do not generally offer video playback. The Post notes that the filing describes the proposed device as “a novel combination of new technology involving the television, cable, telephone and computer industries.”

The e-book space is getting crowded, with current or future devices from Amazon, Sony (SNE), Barnes & Noble (BKS) and start-up Plastic Logic. Just what Discovery plans to do here, it so far isn’t saying.