Petteri Pyyny
4 Aug 2004 14:46
E-Data announced today that Apple has settled a patent lawsuit E-Data had filed against Apple's iTunes Music Store service. E-Data's patent can be considered one of "those whacky ones", as it covers such "limited" process as "downloading and recording of information, such as music, onto a tangible object, such as CDs, DVDs and MP3 players."
E-Data's patent expired in the United States already in January, 2003 -- three months before Apple launched its online music service, but the patent is still valid in Europe and iTunes launched its service in Europe in June, 2004. Earlier this year, Microsoft settled with E-Data to avoid court case against its European music download services.
E-Data also announced that it has sued yet another 14 companies for violating its patent. Companies include The New York Times Company, Hallmark Cards and Ticketmaster.
The details of the settlement were not announced.
Source: MacObserver