Technology news and Jobs 
VIRTUALISATION Apple settles Burst.com patent case
VIRTUALISATION Apple settles Burst.com patent case | Apple settles Burst.com patent case |
|
| by Stephen Withers | |
| Friday, 23 November 2007 | |
  
Featured Whitepaper
5 Best Practices for Smartphone Support
Burst.com countered with its own suit in April 2006, claiming that Apple's iTunes Music Store, iTunes, iPod, and QuickTime Streaming products infringed four of its patents. Earlier this month, the court invalidated as obvious or anticipated 14 of the claims made in those four patents, but that left another 22 that Burst.com officials described as "significant audio and video claims that reach key Apple products". The patents in question describe the transmission of audio-visual material from one device to another using compression so that the material may be transferred in less time than it takes to play. The one-off payment of $US10 million gives Apple a non-exclusive licence to Burst.com's patent portfolio with the exception of one patent and three patents pending that relate to DVR technology, although Burst.com has agreed not to sue Apple for any future breaches of those DVR patents. Burst.com expects to receive $US4.6 million net of costs, expenses and fees, and may use some or all of the money to fund a cash distribution to shareholders. Apple seems to have achieved a relatively inexpensive outcome: Microsoft settled a similar suit brought by Burst.com for $US60 million. At the time Burst.com sued Apple, its chairman and CEO Richard Lang speculated that the reason Apple failed to licence the patents was that it had assumed Microsoft would prevail. |
Tags
| < Next story in category | Previous story in the category > |
|---|
