$100M Apple, Creative, deal
p2pnet.net News:- Last year Creative’s Sim Wong Hoo said his the company would, “pursue aggressively” its US patent on a system used to navigate music on digital players, later demanding that iPod sales should be banned in the US.
Now Apple will pay Creative a cool $100 million to stay out of trouble. Or as Daily Tech puts it, “To conclude what has probably been one of the most asinine lawsuit stories in recent history, long time portable audio rivals Creative Labs and Apple Technology have announced a settlement once and for all.”
Apple’s boss Steve Jobs is quoted as saying, “Creative is very fortunate to have been granted this early patent.”
Nor is the $ settlement all Creative walked away with.
“The deal also gives Creative, a Singapore company, membership in Apple’s ‘Made for iPod’ program, in which companies are allowed to build accessories for the iPod and other Apple products,” observes The San Jose Mercury News.
Creative doesn’t have any other patent infringement lawsuits pending for the Zen patent, the story has Creative Labs Craig McHugh saying.
But that doesn’t mean the Apple settlement is its last effort to wring out the patent, says the story.
“We’re very open to exploring amiable solutions to other companies that are currently using the Zen patent or want to use it,” McHugh is quoted as stating.
Also See:
pursue aggressively – Creative v Apple v Creative, May 19, 2006
Daily Tech – For $100M USD, we can all just get along, August 23, 2006
The San Jose Mercury News – A BITE OUT OF APPLE, August 24, 2006
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