Apple Sues Creative 340
boarder8925 writes "Apple is counter-suing Creative, claiming it has infringed 'four patents in its handheld digital players.' The suit was filed the same day that Creative filed suit against Apple. 'Creative proactively held discussions with Apple in our efforts to explore amicable solutions,' a spokesman for Creative said. 'At no time during these discussions or at any other time did Apple mention to us the patents it raised in its lawsuit.'"
Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:5, Informative)
What were creative thinking? That they'd get some sympathy? Play with patent fire & you're going to get burnt.
And frankly, I think Apple & Creative should be more worried about this patent [nwsource.com] then each other.
Mildly interesting to see what's happened to Apple [google.com] and Creative's [google.com] stock since the two announcements (looks like Apple's lost ~4% & Creative ~2.5%).
*Sighs* such a pity to see two companies that employ so many talented people wasting their time like this.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:5, Insightful)
I know... God forbid they spent their time innovating instead of patenting. Don't they know how the world works now??
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:3, Informative)
Enderle? The well-known microsoft and sco shill?
Embarassing indeed...
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:3, Funny)
The basis for the denial: A similar method outlined in a Microsoft researcher's patent application, filed after the iPod was introduced but before Apple sought its own patent."
Apple - always showing up at the gunfight with a knife....Albeit a totally sweet knife with the greatest GUI ever seen, (and
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:5, Funny)
Close, but wrong. Apple was afraid.... One the patents that came up early in the discussion was Creative's patent on 'a method of meeting and talking openly about patents in an attempt to extort money'.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:2)
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:2)
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:3, Insightful)
During their "discussions" yesterday, Creative may (or may not) have attempted to hamstring Apple. Being on the receiving end of an ultimatum is never pleasant, and I, too, would likely have refrained from giving my antagonist any ground.
But that's just me.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:2)
in any case, this was the last option for creative anyway. if they lose this case, it's over for their MP3 players.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd like to get a MuVo at some point. Mounts as a generic drive, FM receiver (and recorder, get 'em while the RIAA is unaware!), etc. I have no intention on buying an iPod anything. They're good products, but expensive, overhyped, and apparently "think different" means "buy an iPod like everyone else." Meh, whatever.
Sure, everyone loves Apple and will defend them vehemently when they get sued over a patent, yet we all like to forget when they've done the same. To me they're just another corporation trying to make a buck.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyway, I'm pretty happy to see these ridiculous lawsuits. In fact, the more the better. Eventually we'll have to rethink WTF we're doing in this country, or we'll topple under our own weight.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:5, Funny)
You're just jealous.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
Because doing what other people AREN'T doing is way, WAY cooler than doing what they ARE doing.
Your behavior is still dictated by the herd if you insist on always walking in exactly the opposite direction from the herd.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:3, Insightful)
I went to CES a couple of years ago and saw all these Japanese/Chinese manufacturers with there cool new MP3 players. They have a billion buttons on them, names like "X Tech 2000". It was sad. They all
Re:Creative is cheaper? Huh? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:2)
They're good products, but expensive, overhyped, and apparently "think different" means "buy an iPod like everyone else." Meh, whatever.
OT, but that reminds me of my favorite King Missle line - "I want to be different, just like everybody else..."
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:5, Informative)
It seems to me that Apple, in contrast to the opinion of some, has priced the iPod very competitively. Creative is losing a ton of money by trying to maintain slightly cheaper prices for its competing lines. In some cases, actually, the iPod is priced just the same or slightly less. It is a losing battle for Creative because they do not have the economy of scale that Apple has with the iPod, so they lose money at these prices while Apple does well. In this case, Apple has a Dell-like supply chain.
This article, from over a year ago, says it all: "Creative Responds to iPod Price Drop." [betanews.com] Apple took the offensive by cutting prices, and it has continued this strategy. As an analyst in the article says, "Apple has left little room for other music vendors to compete on price." Creative followed that strategy nevertheless, and the results are very clear: Creative cannot sustain a price battle with Apple and stay in business. Their third-quarter sales fell to $225.7 million compared to $333.8 million for the same quarter the previous year. Their net loss for the quarter was $74.7 million. For the past three quarters, it was $105.4 million.
Simply put, Creative is in serious financial trouble. The recent legal action against Apple smacks of a desperate strategy to use their trump card -- their GUI patent -- to shore up their finances. Their problem is that this patent is being challenged and there is a very good possibility that it will not stand. A hierachical system for organizing a music library is just too obvious to be the intellectual property of any one company. Apple has the legal team to drag out the process as long as possible. Their countersuit is just the first step in this process.
Brain ..... Hurting.... (Score:5, Insightful)
How do you pass the Novelty portion of a patent review when there is a product doing it on the market?
The inventors - Apple - gets denied a patent on their product because a competitor patented the process AFTER the product was on the market? What monkey do they have running the USPTO?
Re:Brain ..... Hurting.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Its kinda like Apple getting patents on the ipod even tho' the Zen came before it!
Re:Brain ..... Hurting.... (Score:5, Informative)
The law that describes what qualifies as prior art is 35 U.S.C. 102 [bitlaw.com].
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:2)
I dunno, Creative seems to have dropped 2.6% when the straight time's index fell only 0.3% [businessweek.com].
Apple was certainly traded a good deal more then usual [publish.com] and it's share price seems to have dropped 4.3% against the nasdaq's 2.4%.
I'd say it's definitely more the coincidence - patents do hurt the market.
Pffft...that's why I bought an iRiver. (Score:2, Interesting)
This should be fun to watch.
Where's the pun? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Pffft...that's why I bought an iRiver. (Score:2)
Re:Pffft...that's why I bought an iRiver. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:2)
I would hardly call it wasting time. The potential benefits from a successful patent lawsuit far outweigh the risks involved. You can quite literally put your competators out of business and gain a monopoly. In a very real sense, patent litigation is worth throwing everything and the kitchen sink into.
Re:Patent nuclear war (Score:2)
Patent nuclear war. (Nookular war)
Maybe we will get to witness mutually assured destruction?
Will it spread to become a global war? Every company with a related patent sues Apple and/or Creative. Apple and/or Creative countersues for some other patent. A third wave of companies see the second wave of companies attempting to profit from patent infringement suits, and realize that the second wave companies infringe on one of their patents. T
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah" (Score:2)
First one to the US Patent Office wins!!!
Re:And you say... (Score:2)
I obviously need to start watching more TV or something...
This is why patents suck (Score:5, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is why patents suck (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree that patents suck, and yes, I agree that cases like this are part of why they suck. Society wastes time litigating that could be spent on productivity. Worse examples of why patents suck include the NTP vs RIM case (basically NTP doesn't do anything except sue, all 5 of their patents were issued temporary rejections, and due to the uncertainty of the patent status, RIM was essentially forced to settle because of the potential for almost limitless losses), Amazon's 1-Click Shopping patent (can we say "non-innovative"?), and the Eolas vs Microsoft case (this will fuck over all browsers from IE to Safari to Firefox to Konqueror while forcing Microsoft to seek defensive patents, and while giving Microsoft the excuse to use horrifying patent tricks like this themselves against OSS). As far as I'm concerned, the entire patent system (along with the copyright system, but that's another story) needs to be rethought or removed entirely. It is no longer benefiting the public, and as such the public should force their government to make a new set of rules.
Re:This is why patents suck (Score:4, Insightful)
I really don't see how having a hierarchial menu could easily be avoided. Hierarchies have probably been the most common organizational structure for centuries. To patent it on portable audio devices sounds about as sensical as patenting plugging headphones into portable mp3 players.
There should be a "No shit, dingbat." clause in the patent requirements.
Re:This is why patents suck (Score:2)
Re:This is why patents suck (Score:2)
Re:This is why patents suck (Score:2)
And that's true only if the other party also has an actual product on which you can sue. If you're being sued by a patent troll with no real products or services, you will have to settle or try to get the patent invalidated in court.
So wait (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:So wait (Score:2)
Tiny violins (Score:5, Insightful)
Serves them right. Get back to making products and selling them to make a profit.
Re:Tiny violins (Score:2)
That's a silly response. They still are, it's their lawyers that are suing apple, not their employees.
Re:Tiny violins (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course Creative is still making stuff. Only an idiot would assume they are not. They, however as a company, decided to sue apple to either 1) quash competition and make more money, or the more likely 2) have apple pay them a settlement and negotiate a juicy licensing deal.
This strategy has obviously backfired, as apple had aces in hand, and now will just cost both companies money instead of one profiting at the other's expense.
My commen
More, more, more (Score:5, Interesting)
As soon as Sun sues Microsoft, Microsoft sues IBM and IBM sues them all I will sit back and have some popcorn (btw. do lawyers companies have stock options?).
Re:More, more, more (Score:5, Funny)
In other news.... (Score:2, Insightful)
HA (Score:5, Funny)
Well I never... (Score:5, Insightful)
Fact number 2: At no time during the discussions were Creative proactively suing Apple.
Re:Well I never... (Score:2)
Re:Well I never... (Score:4, Insightful)
We threatened them that we would hit them in the head with a 2 x 4 if they didn't give in to our demands, so we were forced to hit them with it. And then they hit us back with a 2 x 4!! Why didn't they have the decency to threaten us back during the threaten phase? Don't these people play by the rules?
Tiring (Score:5, Funny)
Bet you... (Score:3, Insightful)
There's enough their for all to wet their beaks.
A Creative Lawsuit is as American as Apple Pie (Score:4, Interesting)
Apple apparently has very good lawyers, people that try to sue them for a piece of the pie usually lose.
No more half-baked ideas on how to sue Apple, just get back to your core products and innovate!
In Soviet Russia, (Score:5, Funny)
I mean,
Creative sues...
crap.
Re:In Soviet Russia, (Score:2)
Mutually assured destruction (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Mutually assured destruction (Score:2)
Hopefully, the thing they may learn from this is NOT to sue everyone who appears defenceless, as a fair few of them, that may otherwise have let matters lie quietly, turn round and bite them hard.
The WMDs of the tech world have been found (Score:5, Insightful)
Sometimes the doctrine fails and it looks like a patent war between desperate Creative and Apple.
Let's see if this ends as a minor WMD accident and a quick settlement in court, or if we will see a fullblown patent war between two of the big ones.
Re:The WMDs of the tech world have been found (Score:3, Interesting)
-- Danny DeVito in Other People's Money
Lawyers (Score:2, Insightful)
patent whining ..... (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, with this new development, even if we did find a few nickles, since we're no longer an active business, we can't even go after these people because there's no rubber mallet to beat them with anymore ....
So don't bother innovating folks. You'll just get eaten alive.
Re:patent whining ..... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:patent whining ..... (Score:2)
That's when you take the consolation prize and sell out to the patent trolls for a few million.
From a talk by the USPTO comissioner (Score:3, Informative)
Basically a big problem was that for quite a few years, the USPTO funds were being partially diverted to other programs (like social security). So they were not really able to do a lot during that time to address a growing backlog of patent applications.
Now they are fully funded and hiring around 1000 patent examiners a year, with a new program to help train them that's a li
Tomorrow.... (Score:2)
Sick of Sue-Happiness (Score:2, Insightful)
The reason Creative is in trouble is because the Ipods sell TONS more, because kids see an Ipod, and they want an Ipod themselves. They don't want a 'cheaper' Creative model. Hell, my Palm does 10x more than an Ipod, and I still hear "Well, my Ipod is cooler!"
Kids do not care about functionality or price, they care about what is cool. Trust me on this - I see it every day.
Honestly, I'm just sick of companies wasting money suing each other. Maybe if they would waste t
Re:Sick of Sue-Happiness (Score:2)
Re:Sick of Sue-Happiness (Score:3, Funny)
I'm a kid and I'm reading slashdot.
When history will be made (Score:2, Interesting)
At the moment its just like this big school yard fight and they give each others black eyes by hurling stones in the playground. Though, at the end of the day its the lawyers who are making the real money... the corporations just get the satisfaction of temporarily wounding a competitor.
The real loss is when companys get downsized as a result to these legal games and hardworking employees cop it in the ass
Creative == SCO, hope they get crushed. (Score:5, Interesting)
http://3dgpu.com/archives/2004/07/28/john-carmack
Anyone using dubious patents to extort as a buisness model deserves to get crushed. I wish ID had played hardball against these slimeballs.
Re:Creative == SCO, hope they get crushed. (Score:2)
Can one of your "web 2.0 geniuses"..... (Score:3, Interesting)
It would help make some sense of this, and we could look for patterns to bet on who would sue who next.
At this point I'm betting just in time for presedential elections in 2008 it will be bad enough that some candidate can use "I will reform patent law" as a campaign promise.
I'm confused (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'm confused (Score:3, Interesting)
Um, all the time?
You need to actively defend your patents. No one more than you can tell if someone is infringing. Do you expect the overburdened patent office to review every new competing product for you -- you know, all those ones that AREN'T trying to compete on patents (they've filed for ZERO) but instead are beating you up on price using your patented methodology? Do I sound bitter from expe
This just in (Score:2)
oh my lord... (Score:4, Interesting)
ever since sound cards have become commodity, Creative has slipped in revenues (for the most part). their products are decent enough (IMO) and affordable, but I think their whole legal and marketing team needs to be axed.
the counter suit from apple? i am certainly NO apple fanboy, but if you play with fire (creative), expect to get burned.
does apple have no shame? (Score:5, Funny)
Turnabout is "Fairplay" (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why hasn't the RIAA sued Creative? (Score:5, Funny)
I'll start regretting not going to law school.
Re:Why hasn't the RIAA sued Creative? (Score:2)
Because RIAA doesn't have a patent on recording radio broadcasts, and the product has significant non-infringing uses.
Re:Why hasn't the RIAA sued Creative? (Score:2)
At the very least, it seems more likely to fail to meet the standards set in Sony v. Universal, while I can't see any possible way a device that can just record ordinary broadcasts would
Re:Why hasn't the RIAA sued Creative? (Score:3, Funny)
There will be about 3 companies left, all cross-licensing everything with each other, and some extremely rich lawyers living on their own private island.
Unfortunately, there will be no further development of anything for fear of further litigation, so when a terrible disease starts to sweep through the population of lawyers, reasearch for a cure will be crippled, resulting in lawyers as a species dying out.
In millions of years, their skeletons
Re:jeez what now? (Score:2)
Re:jeez what now? (Score:2)
Re:Won't Matter (Score:3, Funny)
But will it run Lin.. Windows Vista?
Re:Won't Matter (Score:2)
Convergence devices suck. They have always sucked. There is always a new convergence device around the corner that reportedly won't suck. But it will. Get over it.
Re:Won't Matter (Score:2)
Re:Won't Matter (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't mean to be completely dismissive of it, as I'm sure that if someone did a really great device it might do most of what you say. But even if they do, which phone company is even going to want to offer this? They seem a lot more obsessed with charging $2-3 a song to download over the air.
Re:Won't Matter (Score:3, Insightful)
Where the hell did you get that?
Re:Won't Matter (Score:3, Insightful)
The fact that the iPod has shown consistent Q/Q growth showed that the market was still in the process of discovering the product. The only 'saturation point' we've reached is in mindshare: there's nobody left who hasn't heard of an 'iPod' by now.
This does not signify the end of the iPod market. It marks the fact that the iPod market now
Re:How about a penalty if you loose? (Score:2)
Re:How about a penalty if you loose? (Score:2)
If you loose something, you let it go, "Loose a cannon barrage." Loose of course can also be used as the opposite of tight. "Your shoestring is loose."
To 'lose' a court case means that you lost the case.
English grammar are fun.
Re:Karma baby! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Apple is acting like Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
What we have here is one company (Creative) that is unable to compete with their products against competitor, so they resort to lawsuits instead.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Apple is acting like Microsoft (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Creative Online Store (Score:3, Insightful)
Creative announced the Micro Zen after Apple released the iPod mini, by about 10 months:
iPod mini [wikipedia.org] in January of 2004
Zen Micro [wikipedia.org] in October of 2004
They also released their first "small" DAP after the iPod:
"full sized" Nomad Jukebox in 2000
iPod [wikipedia.org] in October of 2001
Zen [wikipedia.org] in 2002
Everything good about the Zens and Nomads exist because Apple did it first