“Contois Music Technology last week asked a Federal Court to stop the iPod maker from distributing its iTunes jukebox software and is seeking damages over an alleged patent violation by the iTunes software,” Kasper Jade and Prince McLean report for AppleInsider. “The suit, filed on June 13th in Vermont District Court, alleges that Apple’s iTunes software design infringes on Contois’ six-year old design patent (US Patent No. 5,864,868) entitled ‘Computer Control System and User Interface for Media Playing Devices.'”
Jade and McLean report, “The Essex Junction, Vt.-based Contois is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Apple from further distributing its iTunes software in its current form. The company also asked the Court for an unspecified amount of monetary damages resulting from Apple’s ‘copying and willful infringement’ of its design patent as well as reimbursement of legal fees associated with the lawsuit.”
Full article with more information and images of Contois’ Exhibit Comparing Both Software Application Interfaces here.
When will the insanity END???
Since its launch in Jan. 2001, Apple’s iTunes software has grown to serve an installed user base of millions and is distributed free-of-charge via Apple’s website as well as with each iPod digital music player the company sells. The iTunes software is also the primary access point to Apple’s industry-leading iTunes Music Store, which is available in 19 countries and has served more than 450 million songs downloads worldwide.
Lawyers for Spink & Miller, PLC., the Virginia-based firm representing Contois, where out on business and did not responded to inquiries for comment by press time.
Contois is seeking a trial by jury.
Preferably the Michael Jackson jury.
WTF!
And the attempts to kill innovation continue….
And how many years has iTunes been out on the market and only now they think they own the rights to some interface? Come on people you can do better than that.
It looks like Apple’s legal team will be getting a few more lawyers at this rate.
its nice that they took 4 years to realise that this was a problem. do you think they waited for itunes and the ipod to take off so they could maximize their profits from this.
Why did it take them FOUR years to finally sue apple? Sounds like a scam to me.
There has to be some limit to when these guys can decide to start suing. This is ridiculous. They’re probably looking for some cash to keep their business going.
At least the beatles sued the minute iTMS got going.
Wonder if this would have proceeded had the iTMS not been successful
Wow.
It took them five years to notice that iTunes existed?
it’s only the look and feel of it
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I guess they’ll be going after RealPlayer and Windows Media Player next…
No?
Well then, WTF is this doing clogging up the courts??!!
So what, they have a copyright on the “PLAY” button?
before you can sue, you have to find legal representation willing to take the case. It’s entirely possible it took the guy a year or two to get someone interested, since nobody could have foreseen the success of iPod/iTunes at the outset. Plus you have to build a case before you can actually file, and that takes time as well. Sure they’re bringing the suit now, but you can bet that A LOT of thought and work has gone into it already…
Don’t blame them. They are just taking advantage of a very stupid patent system.
Wait till someone gets a patent on ass wiping. We’ll all be in trouble then.
Pete,
Not an attempt to kill innovation. More like an attempt to get Apple to settle out of court on a vague copyright. As has been opined here before, it’s time for the copyright system in this country to receive a major overhaul. People register very vague copyrights, and later try to sue anyone that has anything similar to theirs. Bad. Baaaaaaaad.
best of Liberace – just for that it should be thrown out
Isn’t there some rule like with trademarks where you have to defend your right on the patent, and if you don’t you lose by default?
Geez, I think that NExT’s multi-paned file browser interface preceeded this stupid design patent. I expect this suit will be dismissed quickly, should Apple counter sue for their (NExT) design patent which is clearly being breached by these jerks.
And if I patented many years ago a design for “an interface for playing media files, such as movies, etc. with buttons for play, pause, etc.” I could have a patent to cash in all those DVD player software?
I have a patent on stirring. Pay up everybody.
Well that means Sony, Napster, Microsoft, and Real should be sued also
What I don’t like about these patents is that it’s all on paper but these companies have no marketable product. Isn’t filing a patent to protect the idea AND the product you are going to sell, so that other can’t simply copy your innovation, your product on the marketplace? But if you don’t market your idea within a reasonable time-frame and wait to cash in on violations on your idea, that’s bogus. I believe that patents shouldn’t be about owning an idea, but protecting the idea AND the product you are going to sell. But these companies behave like they OWN an idea without having a product an the market. How, then, does Apple cause damages to the company that holds an patent idea, which it doesn’t have any products for?
lol. Wonder if they’re gonna go after Cassady & Green, too? pfffttt.
These guys are reportedly suing over search capabilities such as sorting music tracks by their genre, artist and album attributes, amongst other things.
Yeah sure …
It’s the “American Dream”: get some broad meaningless patent and hope some fool comes along, invests millions and innovates something that if stretched to the nth degree, kinda relates to your “patent”.
Bastards!
Every time Apple has to defend these frivolous law suites, it drives up the cost to us all.
I gonna need to see some pictures of Contois’ interface design — in pixels, not on paper.