Not that long ago, Microsoft was in the hopes of winning a patent for its proposed MP3 player interface patent after Apple's similar proposal was rejected. Now, Creative which has also proposed a patent, but back on the 5th January 2001 has been awarded a patent on the 9th August 2005 for the interface that many MP3 players including the Apple iPod & iPod mini series use.
Creative proposed its MP3 player interface patent 21 months before Apple and 16 months before Microsoft's similar proposal. Creative launched its Nomad Jukebox around September 2000, which its Zen patent is based upon. This patent covers the way audio tracks are organised and navigated within the player that involves three or more continuous screens of information, such as Artist on one screen, tracks on the second screen and albums on the third screen.
As Creative is losing out to Apple with the iPod strongly leading the market, Creative is trying their best to improve their market share and have been recently releasing various new products such as its Zen Vision with a 640 x 480 resolution colour display in an aim to attract customers. Quakester2000 used our news submit to submit the following news:
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Creative said the patent applied to its players, as well as some competing products such as the Apple's iPod and iPod mini. The patent covers how files on a music player are organised. Creative was one of the first companies to produce MP3 players but has lost out to Apple which dominates the market. The Creative announcement is the latest salvo in its self-declared war against Apple. In November, Creative boss Sim Wong Hoo said he aimed to out market his competitors, saying the MP3 war had started. Apple's iPod is estimated to account for 80% of sales of digital music players which use hard drives to store music. |
It will be interesting to see if Creative will try to
collect royalties from Apple or from any anyone else that uses its patented
technology. However, according to a Reuters article, Creative mentions that Microsoft's application covers different technology from its patent. It will intesting to see if Microsoft makes it.
Source: BBC News - Technology
