The Microsoft Corporation is taking legal action against Barnes &Noble, Foxconn and Inventec for patent infringement by their Android devices.

The patents causing the problem are “a range of functionality embodied in Android devices that are essential to the user experience,” such as the ability to tap through different screens and the interaction of documents, reports the Wall Street Journal . The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington.

Microsoft said in a press release, “As you may have seen, Microsoft today filed legal actions against Barnes & Noble, Inc., Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., and Inventec Corporation in both the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Today’s actions focus on the patent infringement by the Nook e-reader and the Nook Color tablet, both of which run the Android operating system.”

Microsoft added that it didn’t take legal action lightly, and that this was only the seventh litigation it pursued in its 36-year history. Microsoft’s Horacio Gutierrez argues that companies manufacturing and shipping Android devices must respect Microsoft’s “intellectual property rights.”

To facilitate the licensing, Microsoft created, “an industry-wide patent licensing program,” and have been trying for over a year to reach licensing agreement with the said companies. He added that other Android makers such as HTC have respected and licensed Microsoft technology.

“Their refusals to take licenses leave us no choice but to bring legal action to defend our innovations and fulfill our responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year to bring great software products and services to market,” he added, according to Computerworld.

Many companies such as Linux, HTC and Amazon have preemptively signed licensing agreements with Microsoft, to avoid complicated lawsuits; however Motorola has refused prompting a lawsuit to take place last year. According to ZDnet, the latest lawsuit against the three companies could have far-reaching implications.  For example, companies that use Foxconn to manufacture their Android devices such as Acer, Dell and SonyEricsson could be affected if no settlement is reached.