 Publishers have placed a strict embargo on the book's publication |
Scholastic sued online retailer DeepDiscount.com for breaking the strict midnight Saturday embargo.
In court papers filed in Illinois, the publisher also named its distributor Levy Entertainment for failing to ensure books were not sent out.
It said that only a tiny fraction of its 12m copies had been distributed.
"The number of copies shipped is around one one-hundredth of one per cent," said Scholastic in a statement.
'Please ignore'
The company added that they had a list of customers who had ordered the book from DeepDiscount.com and were asking them to put it to one side if they have already received it by mistake.
A report in The Baltimore Sun newspaper about a customer who had already received his copy prompted Scholastic to take action.
They are seeking unspecified damages from the two companies in question.
A spokesman for Infinity Resources, who own DeepDiscount.com, said: "We take the situation very seriously and are conducting an internal investigation."
Levy Entertainment declined to comment.
Scholastic has also asked "everyone, especially in the media, to preserve the fun and excitement for fans everywhere".
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has also posted an appeal on her official website, stating: "Let's all, please, ignore the misinformation popping up on the web and in the press.
"I'd like to ask everyone who calls themselves a Harry Potter fan to help preserve the secrecy of the plot for all those who are looking forward to reading the book at the same time on publication day.
"In a very short time you will know everything!" the statement concluded.
Earlier this week, pictures of what appeared to be pages from the new novel were circulating on the internet.
Minna Fry, marketing director of the book's UK publisher Bloomsbury said: "There have been so many fake books going up on the internet over the past four to six weeks. We have no reason to believe that these are anything other than fake either."