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Apple, Starbucks Sued Over Music Gift Cards

Posted by kdawson on from the you-can-brick-but-you-better-not-click dept.

Trintech writes "A Utah couple acting as their own attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Apple and Starbucks over the retailers' recent Song of the Day promotion, which offers Starbucks customers an iTunes gift card for a complimentary, pre-selected song download. In a seven-page formal complaint, James and Marguerite Driessen of Lindon, Utah say they developed in 2000, and were granted a patent in February 2006 for, an Internet merchandising utility dubbed RPOS (retail point of sale). The concept, which forms the heart of the infringement lawsuit, would allow gift cards for pre-defined items that can be sold at a brick-and-mortar store but used online; customers could redeem a card for a dining room set or a DVD, for example."

3 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Its a new invention because its online by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Same old rubbish. Companies have been giving away free gifts and vouchers for free gifts for years, tacking on "on the internet" doesn't make it a new invention in anyway shape or form.

  2. Anything goes .. by hebertrich · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yet another patent we can all live without.
    The patent office is really more of a nuisance than anything nowadays.

    Eh .. i got an idea .. lest get a patent in for an office that
    would examine and grant patents .. see if it passes .. seeing how dumb
    they are .. we got a shot at it .. 8)

  3. Re:LMAO by evanbd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    (It isn't that I hate Apple or support patents, it is just that I hate capitalism. Can't you see the connection?)
    --
    DISCLAIMER: Use of this advanced computing technology does not imply an endorsement of Western industrial civilization.

    But apparently you're willing to use this advanced technology even though it is the product of something that goes against your principles. How pragmatic of you. How... dare I say it... capitalist? After all, your actions seem to imply that you value your short term personal gain over your principles, and that furthermore you can absolve your conscience with a disclaimer that says the opposite. If that behavior isn't typical of the large Western corporations you claim to despise, I don't know what is...