Apple gains control of critical digital download patent
A
recent out-of-court settlement between Apple Computer
and a Vermont-based inventor has landed Apple the
rights to a prestigious software design patent that
may allow the company to seek royalties on a broad
spectrum of digital downloads.
Michael Starkweather, a
lawyer and author of the 10-year old patent, issued a
statement on Thursday calling it a "billion dollar
patent" that will have affects on the future of the
"cell phone, iPod and PDA" industries.
"I believe that, with this patent in hand, Apple will
eventually be after every phone company, film maker,
computer maker and video producer to pay royalties on
every download of not just music but also movies and
videos," he said.
Starkweather, who wrote the patent in 1996 for David
Contois of Essex Junction, Vt.-based Contois Music
Technology, said the inventor originally didn't show
interest in patenting the idea nor did he understand
its value.
The initial concept consisted of a desktop computer
holding multiple songs with an interface that allowed
a hotel guest to select three songs and play them on
an electric grand piano.
Realizing that downloading movies was an obvious
variation to downloading music, Starkweather broke
the patent into three elements; remote music storage,
selection of music to download and playing music on a
music device.
"Sometimes it's easy to break an invention down to
its key components," he said. "That's why patent
writing is an art, not a science, and requires
creativity."
In June of 2005, Contois asked a Vermont District
Court to issue a preliminary and permanent injunction
barring Apple from further distributing its iTunes
software. In a 10-page
complaint, which was first reported
on AppleInsider,
lawyers charged the Cupertino, Calif.-based iPod
maker with "copying" and "willfully infringing" on
Contois design patent in developing the digital
jukebox software.
The suit stated that Contois conceived and developed
a computer interface for playing music on an internal
or external computer-responsive music device, which
he then exhibited at the 1995 COMDEX trade show and
the 1996 NAMM music industry trade show. According to
the filing, people who were at the time employed by
or later became employed by Apple were present at
both trade shows and viewed Contois' software. The
suit alleged Apple later "copied" the invention
and used the design
ideas in the interface for iTunes.
Specifically, the filing documented
19 interface aspects
of the Apple software
that it claimed were in direct violation of
Contois' patent. The areas included iTunes' menu
selection process to allow the user to select
music to be played, the ability of the software to
transfer music tracks to a portable music player,
and search capabilities such as sorting music
tracks by their genre, artist and album
attributes.
Following a 15-hour
negotiating this September, Contois and Apple
ended their dispute by reaching an out-of-court
settlement. The terms of the deal were not
disclosed.