iPod rival Luxpro plans to sue Apple for $US100 million

by Angus Kidman

Friday, 05 January 2007

Taiwanese manufacturer Luxpro says it is planning to sue Apple for $US100 million after winning a long-running court case that accused it of copying the design of the iPod Shuffle.

A statement issued by Luxpro said that it had won an appeal against Apple, which originally sued Luxpro in July 2005, claiming that the design of its Tangent range of MP3 players was a direct clone of its original Shuffle design. Luxpro argued that the prominence of its own logo and a series of "easy-to-operate features" were sufficient differentiation.

Luxpro's statement didn't, however, mention that the Tangent range was originally sold under the brand name Super Shuffle, a strategy which has since been discontinued.

The $100 million figure is being sought as compensation for Apple's earlier actions, which "caused Luxpro to lose valuable market opportunities and a considerable amount of orders", the statement said.

Getting sued is hardly a new development for Apple. Its most recent financial filings revealed seven lawsuits claiming patent violations, as well as a number concerning its recently restated financial results.

In September 2006, Apple launched a new model of the Shuffle which is half the size of the original design. To date, LuxPro has not released a similar-looking product.
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