James Delahunty
9 Dec 2005 6:35
Creative Technologies Inc. has once again touted ownership of a key MP3 player patent, which could force Creative's rivals to pay licensing fees. Of course, Apple is Creative's biggest rival, yet speaking at the launch of the Vision:M in London yesterday, the company's CEO Sim Wong Hoo, didn't mention any specific companies Creative would target. The User Interface described in the Creative patent is remarkably similar to that used by Apple's iPod players.
Creative was first to use the UI though, back in September 2000 whereas the iPod didn't show up until November 2001. Creative shipped 8 million MP3 players this year according to Hoo, whereas Apple shipped 18 million in the first three quarters of 2005 and looks set to reach 22 million this year. These are figures that Creative should be happy about if it can force Apple to license the patent.
The very fact that there has been no lawsuit filed by Creative against Apple indicates that the two companies are negotiating.
Source:
The Register