Dave Horvath
3 Jan 2007 7:57
A now defunct little known company founded by three Hollywood executives, Intertainer is filing a lawsuit for patent infringement against iPod developer Apple, the widely used search engine Google and the online digital media community Napster. The suit was filed Friday in Texas against the big three Internet heavyweights under the grounds that they all violated a patent held by Intertainer. Intertainer claims to have created, developed and patented the way in which digital media is distributed through cable and phone lines.
Developed in 1996, Intertainer claims that they were the first to provide a way in which digital media can be packaged for public consumption and shared over the Internet. With corporate backing (back then) from Microsoft and Intel, Intertainer looked to have a pretty good service on their hands. The company, however was forced to shut its doors in 2002 and as a result, filed an anti-trust lawsuit against rival Movielink. This investigation led to nowhere and was eventually dropped in 2004. In August of 2005, the portion of Intertainer still functioning as a company, although no longer with any financial backing from Microsoft or Intel, took out a patent for the technology used to manage and distribute digital media. This makes one wonder why it took 9 years for them to realize they should patent their ideas, if they are in fact their own.
Source:
CBC News