Do you know Creative owns patents for all MP3 players? That includes the Ipods.
In Case many of you still do not know, especially Ipod user, the mp3 player is originated from Creative. For every Ipod that is sold, royalties will be given to Creative. It is a big business, however, the creator are not good enough to exploit their natural advantage over the sales of mp3 players. Lets hope this case that they just filed will help them win back what they deserve. :)
-A stern supporter of Homegrown companies even though I own an Ipod ;p
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Creative goes to court in bid to block iPod sales in US
By Bryan Lee May 17, 2006 The Straits Times
SINGAPORE'S Creative Technology has taken its fight with its rival Apple Computer over the MP3 music player market to a new level - by seeking a legal ban on Apple's sale of its best-selling iPod in the United States.
Creative, whose line of Zen MP3 players remains a distant No. 2 in the vital US market, and elsewhere, has taken twin-pronged legal action against Apple in the US.
On Monday, it filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, claiming Apple's iPods breached a patent it holds over a technology used in iPods. It has also filed a lawsuit in California against the US giant on similar grounds, seeking financial damages, along with a halt to US iPod sales.
The move could give Creative a chance to reverse its fortunes, observers said yesterday, if the court bars Apple from selling iPods, which account for about three in four MP3 players sold in the US. But legal experts say the more probable pay-off Creative can hope for is damages.
Creative has alleged that Apple is violating American trade law by importing its China-made iPod and iPod Nano players and selling them in the US. It said the players infringed a patent Creative was awarded nine months ago by the US Patent Office.
The patent, which it had applied for in 2001, relates to a technology to make it easier for MP3 listeners to find and play songs. Creative claims Apple is using this technology in the China-made players sold in the US.
And the Singapore firm has stated in documents filed with the Northern Californian District Court that it deserves a high level of financial damages as Apple had 'willfully' infringed this patent.
Creative's latest salvo suggests it remains keen to continue the MP3 'war' it declared on Apple at the end of 2004, when it unveiled ambitions of capturing 40 per cent of the world market by the end of last year. Instead, it has been bloodied by price competition from both Apple and smaller rivals, bleeding a record US$114.4 million (S$182 million) in losses in the most recent quarter ended March 31. Until yesterday, its share price had tanked to new five-year lows every day in recent weeks.
There was a respite yesterday, when it surged 25 cents, or 2.8 per cent, to close at $9.15 apiece, bucking a 0.8 per cent slide by the benchmark Straits Times Index.
But brokerage house Kim Eng Securities' analyst Gregory Yap said Creative's latest assault is unlikely to do many favours for the stock in the short term, noting that yesterday's upturn came on thin trading. 'Litigation costs in the US will be expensive and management focus that should be on the business may be lost.'
Still, UOB Kay Hian's Jonathan Koh said the legal costs are small relative to the sales Creative is losing to Apple. 'If Creative does get the injunction it is seeking, we could see a major turnaround. '
Keystone Law Corp director Siew Kum Hong said the recent US$612.5 million paid by Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry mobile e-mail phone, to settle a patent dispute indicates the stakes involved.
But Mr Lionel Tan, a partner at law firm Rajah and Tannn, said: 'The one thing that is clear is that this will be long drawn case.'
An Apple spokesman in Singapore declined comment yesterday.
-A stern supporter of Homegrown companies even though I own an Ipod ;p
----------------
Creative goes to court in bid to block iPod sales in US
By Bryan Lee May 17, 2006 The Straits Times
SINGAPORE'S Creative Technology has taken its fight with its rival Apple Computer over the MP3 music player market to a new level - by seeking a legal ban on Apple's sale of its best-selling iPod in the United States.
Creative, whose line of Zen MP3 players remains a distant No. 2 in the vital US market, and elsewhere, has taken twin-pronged legal action against Apple in the US.
On Monday, it filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, claiming Apple's iPods breached a patent it holds over a technology used in iPods. It has also filed a lawsuit in California against the US giant on similar grounds, seeking financial damages, along with a halt to US iPod sales.
The move could give Creative a chance to reverse its fortunes, observers said yesterday, if the court bars Apple from selling iPods, which account for about three in four MP3 players sold in the US. But legal experts say the more probable pay-off Creative can hope for is damages.
Creative has alleged that Apple is violating American trade law by importing its China-made iPod and iPod Nano players and selling them in the US. It said the players infringed a patent Creative was awarded nine months ago by the US Patent Office.
The patent, which it had applied for in 2001, relates to a technology to make it easier for MP3 listeners to find and play songs. Creative claims Apple is using this technology in the China-made players sold in the US.
And the Singapore firm has stated in documents filed with the Northern Californian District Court that it deserves a high level of financial damages as Apple had 'willfully' infringed this patent.
Creative's latest salvo suggests it remains keen to continue the MP3 'war' it declared on Apple at the end of 2004, when it unveiled ambitions of capturing 40 per cent of the world market by the end of last year. Instead, it has been bloodied by price competition from both Apple and smaller rivals, bleeding a record US$114.4 million (S$182 million) in losses in the most recent quarter ended March 31. Until yesterday, its share price had tanked to new five-year lows every day in recent weeks.
There was a respite yesterday, when it surged 25 cents, or 2.8 per cent, to close at $9.15 apiece, bucking a 0.8 per cent slide by the benchmark Straits Times Index.
But brokerage house Kim Eng Securities' analyst Gregory Yap said Creative's latest assault is unlikely to do many favours for the stock in the short term, noting that yesterday's upturn came on thin trading. 'Litigation costs in the US will be expensive and management focus that should be on the business may be lost.'
Still, UOB Kay Hian's Jonathan Koh said the legal costs are small relative to the sales Creative is losing to Apple. 'If Creative does get the injunction it is seeking, we could see a major turnaround. '
Keystone Law Corp director Siew Kum Hong said the recent US$612.5 million paid by Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry mobile e-mail phone, to settle a patent dispute indicates the stakes involved.
But Mr Lionel Tan, a partner at law firm Rajah and Tannn, said: 'The one thing that is clear is that this will be long drawn case.'
An Apple spokesman in Singapore declined comment yesterday.
thoughts by |nnoc3nt @ 08:51
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