Hatful Of Hollow 0 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Digital music player maker Creative Technology has asked a US court to ban Apple from selling or marketing its iconic iPods in the US. Creative claims that the navigational menu used for finding and playing music on the iPod, violates its patent for its own Zen MP3 player. It applied for the patent in 2001 which was granted in August 2005. Since then it has been threatening legal action. The complaint was lodged at the San Francisco district court. Import laws breach? Last year Creative boss Sim Wong Hoo told the BBC he planned to "pursue aggressively" the US patent. Through the court it is seeking an injunction and increased damages for what it says is a "wilful infringement of the Zen patent". Creative said it had also filed a complaint to the US International Trade Commission, asking it to investigate whether Apple had breached import laws by selling iPods and the iPod Nano. It claimed it had met with Apple CEO Steve Jobs and other representatives in 2001 to discuss ways the two companies to work together but had rejected Apple's proposals. Nobody from Apple would comment on the legal action. Market share Creative has struggled against the market dominance of the iPod and earlier this month plunged into the red. It blamed its $114m (£62m) losses for the three months to March on the plunge in MP3 player prices and its need to get rid of stock. But it pledged to return to profit in the second half of 2006, saying it was renewing its focus on high-margin products, such as computer sound cards. Apple launched the iPod in 2001 and now has 72% of the US portable MP3 player market while Creative has less than 10%, according to research group NPD. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4985410.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj 17 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Just had to do a case study on Apple for one of my exams the otherday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordieshandy 0 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Creative has struggled against the market dominance of the iPod and earlier this month plunged into the red. It blamed its $114m (£62m) losses for the three months to March on the plunge in MP3 player prices and its need to get rid of stock. They can send me one after mine buggered and won't do anything three days after the warranty packed in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordieshandy 0 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 And three minutes after posting that I get an email saying they are going to replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatful Of Hollow 0 Posted May 17, 2006 Author Share Posted May 17, 2006 (edited) And three minutes after posting that I get an email saying they are going to replace it. 137512[/snapback] I've got a Zen Sleek Photo at the moment, in the past i've had a Zen Xtra and Zen Touch, both of them knacked in some way, meaning they had to be replaced. Edited May 17, 2006 by Hatful Of Hollow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikko 20 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 ive got a zen xtra kicking around somewhere, only use it when i go on holiday and want loads of music. Use my phone for all other portable music needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie 0 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 (edited) My Zen Touch is fucked too. To be fair I did drop it on concrete. Still plays like, but the menu's knackered. Fail to see how anyone can put up with an iPod. The whole iTunes thing just puts me right off, overcomplicated bollocks, not to mention that when I installed it on my computer for someone it deleted my CD drive. Edited May 17, 2006 by Wullie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheInspiration 1 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 My Zen MicroPhoto screwed up but I got a free replacement very quickly, and only took half an hour to get all my songs on it. Like it much more than an iPod personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_NUFC 0 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 I've got a 40gb Zen Touch, and it's fine. The only things that have broken are the Earphones. Hardly a disaster. I like it. Had it over a year now, and it's been fine. And a good bit cheaper than iPods as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill 0 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 I've had my Zen Touch about a year and a half now and it's been fine so far (touch wood), despite being dropped numerous times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke 1 Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 My Zen Touch is fucked too. To be fair I did drop it on concrete. Still plays like, but the menu's knackered. Fail to see how anyone can put up with an iPod. The whole iTunes thing just puts me right off, overcomplicated bollocks, not to mention that when I installed it on my computer for someone it deleted my CD drive. 137537[/snapback] iTunes is an arse like. But the iPod itself is brilliantly simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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