Apple pays Creative $100 million. Creative starts making iPod accessories.

[blessingx]

See here. What this means for either party I have no idea.

 

[Usagi]

Ouch! That must have been a hard one for Apple's board to swallow.

 

[vapman]

sweeet.

 

[Naris]

Well it's about time all those silly back and forth lawsuits are done with. Neither Apple nor Creative seemed to have gained nearly as much as they originally wanted though... meh. For the best IMO.

 

[rockin_amigo14]

i'm sure it won't be much of a loss when the new mac's start selling. especially that new OS, which looks quite enticing, i must say.

smart move for creative, trying to buy into the ipod fad. with their sound technology, i'm sure they can produce some good solutions. if it proves profitable, perhaps they can start improving their dap's by marketing and support (ex: zvm exclusive soundock would be nice)

 

[YamiTenshi]

It's a fair settlement, though I think if this actually went to court Creative would have been awarded much more, but it's definitely not worth the time and money to put up a long term fight. Creative now has 100 million dollars and a hand in the iPod market. Also their stock's went up like 30% after this was announced. However, what this all means for Creative in the long run is still unclear. Could they have won the battle but loss the war?

From Apple's stand point they definitely benefited in the long run. I really think that Apple would have loss if this went to court and then they would have been out lots more money/time and possibly have an injunction against them from ever using the patent again. 100 million dollars is no small amount, but I'm sure Apple will recover. Plus now they have another company making accessories for them and they have a license to Creative's patent.

From a legal stand point it's extremely good that this was settled outside of court instead of being litigated all the way. Patent law is confusing enough as it is as technology keeps advancing and the law is struggling to keep up. I'm glad that this case didn't set another precedent that might have a chilling effect on future inventions. Though it can be argued that now it's more unclear what Creative's rights are in regards to this patent and against other companies.

 

[Jeff E]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamiTenshi ... 100 million dollars is no small amount, but I'm sure Apple will recover.

I don't know whether recover is the appropriate word. I heard on NPR's Morning Edition this morning that this settlement reduces Apple's cash reserves from 9.1 to 9 billion dollars.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff E I don't know whether recover is the appropriate word. I heard on NPR's Morning Edition this morning that this settlement reduces Apple's cash reserves from 9.1 to 9 billion dollars.

Ai, damn, no butter on the popcorn tonight...

I guess this is the best solution. Creative needs the money, the sum is rather small from Apple's perspective, and the deal saves everyone a lot of trouble.

 

[blessingx]

Yeah but ... "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." Hmmm never heard of that before. And yes Apple as been guilty of similar insane patents. Well the guilts actually at the Patent Office door.

I think for Apple the $100 mil was less important than the static nature of their stock since this started. For Creative I don't if this is the start of a new beginning or the beginning of the end.

 

[ILikeMusic]

Apple has a market cap of 57 billion dollars so I don't think they're going to sweat a measly $100 million. However Creative's market cap is $500 million so on their end another $100 million would have to come in handy.

 

[ya8282]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff E I don't know whether recover is the appropriate word. I heard on NPR's Morning Edition this morning that this settlement reduces Apple's cash reserves from 9.1 to 9 billion dollars.

Probably incorrect as they plan to amoritize it over "many years" (WSJ).

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx Yeah but ... "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." Hmmm never heard of that before.

Yes, the Zen players have that feature and it's very nice to use. How does the iPod work in relation to finding certain songs?

 

[blessingx]

How does nearly any computerized component display tiered information?

 

[GreatDane]

I've never used an iPod, I thought maybe it sucked when trying to find songs.I realize that this navigation method is the obvious choice as with computers...it seems to me that Creative was just the first to claim it for portable player use...I haven't read anything about the court case-maybe I should atleast read the link you posted-duh.

I'm then guessing that the iPod navigates exactly like the Zen models??

 

[bahamaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx How does nearly any computerized component display tiered information?

Precisely. Implicit in your comment is the fact that the Patent Office has become far too liberal in granting patents. Though I don't practice in the area, I remember learning in law school that one of the conditions of patentability is that the technology had to be non-obvious (i.e., a genuine leap from the current state of the art). In my mind, this method of searching is pretty obvious.