Slashdot Mirror
Apple Settles Creative Lawsuit for $100 Million
E IS mC(Square) writes "CNet News reports that `Apple Computer and Creative Technology have agreed to settle their legal dispute over music player patents for $100 million, the companies announced Wednesday.
The $100 million, to be paid by Apple, grants Apple a license to a Creative patent for the hierarchical user interface used in that company's Zen music players.
The patent covers an interface that lets users navigate through a tree of expanding options, such as selecting an artist, then a particular album by that artist, then a specific song from that album. Creative filed for the patent on Jan. 5, 2001.
Apple can get back some of the $100 million payment if Creative is able to secure licensing deals with other MP3 player manufacturers, said Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman. "Creative is very fortunate to have been granted this early patent," Apple's CEO Steve Jobs said in a press release.`"
What's that smell? Oh, that must have been every iPod/Apple fanboy crapping their pants in unison.
Well, that's it. I'll never buy another creative product again. As if just making shitty sound cards wasn't enough. I've always hoped that the latest greatest sound card would be decent, I shell out the $300 or so for the one with hte front panel (to plug my midi gear etc into) and i'm totally let down. Shitty drivers, crackling sound whenever internet traffic is high (yah, go figure...)/rant...
UGH
Fuck them. That was the straw.
The Zen sucked, and really, how much different can you make an interface on a handheld music player?
And the shoddy business practise of waiting until the iPod is nice and successfull before laying down the legal gauntlet just makes me sick.
I've swore by creative's products since day 1, and now I say 'Fuck you, Creative. You just blew it.'
Maybe I'm overreacting, but hey. Fuck them.
This is not the greatest
My brother's studying to be a patent lawyer, and all he has to say for shit like this is that the system just isn't used to software patents yet, whereas every other kind of patent's been around for decades and all people involved in the patent system finally figured out how to fucking do things. But honestly, every time I hear that from him, I can't help but think in the back of my head "Uh, so, that still doesn't account for common fucking sense. Where'd all that go?"
I guess the judge is just one of those retarded fuckers that has his wife organize every last fucking thing for him. That's the only way I can possibly think of to explain it, that he's never, every used a file cabinet, a computer, or even organized his own fucking sock drawer. I can imagine other patents coming up on slashdot having more too them, and that knee-jerk reactions don't do them justice, that there might be more to the story.... but on this one, that is fucking impossible. There is absolutely nothing about the iPod's interface that anyone should have ever been able to patent, and that should be fucking obvious to anyone working in the patent system. Anyone who approved this patent and the judge in the case should be fired.
Ex nihilo nihil fit.