REVENGE Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 After battling it out in the courts, it seems that Apple has finally given in to Creative on the issue of which came first, the iPod UI or the Zen UI. Apple has agreed to pay Creative $100 million dollars to obtain a license to use an user interface; in addition, Creative has now been included into Apple's "Made for iPod" program, allowing it to put the coveted "Made for iPod" logo on its products and accessories. This settlement comes after Creative and Apple mutually asserted this year that its user interface design came first, and that one stole the other's design. After filing for a patent in 2001, Creative was awarded the patent for their user interface back in 2005, centering around the interfaces ability to allow "portable media player players to navigate and select tracks." Then, in May of this year, Creative took legal action, suing Apple for patent infringement and asking for an injunction to stop the sale of the iPod and iPod Nano. Apple subsequently countersued Creative, alleging that they were the ones who were infringing, but as Apple's user interface patent filing was rejected, Creative had the upper-hand in this situation. The fact of the matter is that Creative's user interface design goes back all the way to their Nomad Jukebox players, which were first released in 2000. Unfortunately for Creative, its line of MP3 players have not enjoyed quite as much success as Apple's iPods. As News.com reports: "Creative is one of many companies attempting to chip away at Apple's runaway lead in the market for portable MP3 players. Its Zen products haven't translated into profits, however: Earlier this month, Creative reported a $12.7 million loss on slowing sales for its fourth quarter. The company expects the $100 million settlement to add 85 cents to its earnings per share figures for its current quarter." Guess we finally know who was "creative" after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiberia Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 so does this mean Creative's players are going to be able to play the DRM stuff from iTunes now? Or is it just headphones and stuff that are "made for iPod"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwprod12 Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 The courts just proved what I've been saying all along. That Apple stole the idea for the iPod from Creative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobNyc Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 LOL. Just funny I like my Creative Zen Vision M its just not good if I use OSX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domino Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 100 million is a lot of money for a struggling company. Still Apple still wins in the end. How many iPod sales does only take to get back 100 million? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iMaurice Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 pft, struggling company? ha i just think that apple didnt wanna risk loosing so they decided to just pay creative Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domino Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 pft, struggling company? ha i just think that apple didnt wanna risk loosing so they decided to just pay creative Creative is a toddler compared to Apple's iPod and will never catch up to Apple the next 5-10yrs. So yes "struggling". Of course, Apple would be a fool to try to fight this. It takes less than a month, if that, in iPod sales to get back the 100 million. That out of court settlement is chump change to Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iMaurice Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 sorry, thought he meant apple was the struggling company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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