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December 11, 2005
Creative Feeling Infringed
Where
better to throw the dice than Reno?! Yesterday in Reno, Creative Technology
chief executive Sim Wong Hoo, in thinly veiled terms, said that Apple Computer's iPod infringed on
Creative's so-called Zen patent (6,928,433)
and that the company would be aggressively pursuing a patent infringement case.
Creative is launching Zen Vision:M, which competes with Apple’s video-capable iPod.
In Reno, Sim went into ad mode with, "We designed the Zen Vision:M with its mesmerizing 262,144 color screen to display four times the color of the 30GB iPod that plays video, and to provide twice the battery life for video playback. Plus, we offer people the freedom to choose their video in a variety of different formats, and to get subscription music or download tracks from a number of different sites to their player."
Jetting to London for an interview with the BBC, Sim snorted patent infringement, but did not specifically name Apple.
6,928,433, titled "Automatic hierarchical categorization of music by metadata", was granted in August, the same month that Apple's supposedly similar patent application was rejected.
If Creative's hot pursuit of infringement heads towards a courthouse, expect Apple to blaze back in coutersuit.
Posted by Patent Hawk at December 11, 2005 10:47 AM | Patents In Business