“If you can’t beat them, sue them. MP3 player manufacturer Creative has filed two legal actions against Apple, claiming that the iPod infringes on a patent for hierarchical menus Creative applied for in 2001 and was awarded in August 2005,” Chris Stevens writes for Crave @ CNET writes. “Though the Internet is thrumming with examples of prior-art that undermine Creative’s claims of inventing the hierarchical menu, there’s something even more sinister at work here. If Creative was awarded the patent in the middle of 2005, why has it waited almost an entire year to unleash it?”
Stevens thinks it likely that “Apple will demonstrate its wealth of prior art, ranging from the ‘column view’ available on the Apple Lisa back in 1980, or in Steve Jobs’ NeXT OS a few years later — or in any number of other devices and operating systems since. Creative will relent, happy with its publicity stunt, and slide back into the comfortable level of mediocrity it’s been so good at maintaining these last few years. If only Creative would put its efforts into pushing forward with its own product designs, rather than litigating its way to a slice of Apple’s pie. We’re weary of these depressing and unpleasant law suits. The Creative vs Apple patent case reads depressingly like Steven Segal claiming he invented acting.”
Full article here.
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Bad name–Creative.
MDN Take: Exactly.
I am curious to see how this suit will play out. Honestly, I don’t see how anyting could come of it. The hierarchy that is used on the iPod has been used for years in computer systems. Something contained in something contained within something else. I would love to hear how the lawyers argue it though. The spin should be something the be admired.
You don’t know the history of mediocrity and desperation. I do.
Tom Cruise. Do you need to post that lame line in every thread?
Never get tired of reading headlines that include “Beleaguered Creative…”
By the way, the patent (which you can look up online) is patently ridiculous to this layman’s eyes. Pun intended.
It’s just a rehashing of navigating menus sorted by columns of data (Genre, artist, title, album) and being able to select songs or albums to play with a 3-button interace.
But I won’t go into yet again the whole argument about how the Patent system needs a complete overhaul. The only people really making money off the patent system these days are lawyers.
Wait a minute….
…Steven Segal didn’t invent acting?
I bet Microsoft is funding the suit… as a way to keep Apple occupied.
duper . . . you don’t know the things that need posting. I do.
“Do you need to post that lame line in every thread?”
You don’t know the history of lame posts, I do.
The Creative vs Apple patent case reads depressingly like Steven Segal claiming he invented acting.
Hilarious!!!! MDN couldn’t have come up with a better take! I gues that’s why the didn’t.
Tom cruise I put you up there with those Al Gore people still on so many boards claiming to have invented everything. I want to tell you the same thing I tell the people who write the Al Gore comments. Your comments are neither funny or clever.
duper… I rather read that lame line by Tom Cruise than Star Jones’ lame line of “Now as a former lawyer, I know a thing or two about the history of mediocrity and desperation.”
I actually think Tom Cruise is pretty funny
I think you might not know the history of fun, he does..
Jeez you guys, you’ve scared him off….
Come on Tom, stop hiding. Come out Tom, come out of the closet…
Found this on slashdot. Interesting reading:
“Anonymous Coward writes “Forbes is reporting that the Supreme Court has just limited the power of patent trolls to obtain permanent injunctions against infringers as a matter of course. The court has ruled that the principles of equity apply, meaning that a court considering slapping an injunction on the infringer must consider how much damage is really being done … which in the case of EBay’s Buy It Now feature, isn’t much, since the company that owns this so-called patent only has it for the purposes of suing other people.” From the article: “The high court’s decision deals a blow to patent trolls, which are notorious for using the threat of permanent injunction to extort hefty fees in licensing negotiations as well as huge settlements from companies they have accused of infringing. Often, those settlements can be far greater than the value of the infringing technology: Recall the $612.5 million that Canada’s Research in Motion forked over to patent-holding company NTP to avoid the shutting down of its popular BlackBerry service.”
I suspect that Creative have been trying to goad Apple into actually suing them first this last year for its shameless copies of everything iPod in the hope of even greater impact and free publicity to help save the company from extinction. Apple wisely kept its powder dry. I suspect this could now get a little interesting for a while.
As for the Microsoft connection, I think you can bet your life there nasty little tendacles are intwined there somewhere. After all they havn’t won out in a fair competition for twenty years or more. The poster of that comment is strangly appropriate for MS such behaviour is very much like a heroin addiction for them. Who would have thought it of that nice nerdy Mr Gates an all.
What is with Tom Cruise anyway?
Ba-do-do-do-do-pop!
Trolling Patent Lawyers are the modern version of the Ambulance Chaser. They dress better, don’t advertise on TV and generally have a better zip code. At their core they are still the same bunch trying to use the law to extort money from people who are actually doing something.
I know a secret about Tom Cruise. He’s a closet fruitcake. THe only reason why he even got close to me was to gain access to my collection of 200 panties.
Katie:
Your Significant Other knows the history of panty-infringement lawsuits… I don’t.
Steven Segal invented acting? Now that’s news!
Tom, come back. All is forgiven.
Jerry, you don’t know the history of bad television….. I do.
I’ve applied for patents for a line, circle, and the wheel. (I know, redundant, but the patent office doesn’t care.)
I’m talking to lawyers now.