Creative Technology Ltd.on Tuesday announced that it has been awardedU.S. patent of invention 6,928,433 , which it ’s calling the “ Zen Patent ” for shortsighted . The Zen Patent describes how files on a digital music participant are organise , and covers not only its own Zen and Nomad jukeboxes , but also Apple ’s iPod and iPod miniskirt , accord to a financial statement release by the ship’s company .
The Zen Patent is summarized as “ automatic hierarchical categorization of medicine by metadata . ” Creative enunciate the patent of invention hatch the ability for a digital music player to display music using artist , album and raceway menus — the way that not only Creative ’s euphony players work , but also Apple ’s .
originative chairman and CEO Sim Wong Hoo , explained that Creative ’s Nomad Jukebox was on storehouse shelves in September 2000 , 13 month before Apple ’s ever saw the light of 24-hour interval , he state .
“ Before this invention , there was no intuitive and efficient means to contend with the large number of tracks that could be stored on a high-pitched - capability player , ” Sim said .
Creative ’s patent news program is the in vogue salvo in Sim Wong Hoo ’s self - draw selling “ warfare ” against the iPod , which he first described in November , 2004 .
Apple has dominated the digital music player market and the legal on-line music download market thanks to its iTunes Music Store and iPod music players , gain a prevailing marketshare in both segments . For its third financial fourth part — its most recently denote results — Apple sold 6.15 million iPods , a 616 percent year - over - year betterment which sum more than $ 1.1 billion to their quarterly tax revenue phone number .
Apple ’s effort have n’t gone unchallenged , however . In addition to Sim ’s marketing war , Apple recently found themselves on the turn a loss end of a patent of invention difference over other interface elements used on the iPods — a patent which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has recognized as belonging to Microsoft Corp. , which had file away five month before Apple ’s claim .
The significance of this was n’t lost on Sim . “ This Apple patent program was filed on October 28 , 2002 . A related provisional lotion was filed by Apple on July 30 , 2002 , eighteen month after our filing date for the Zen Patent and over twenty months after our NOMAD Jukebox based upon our user user interface was on the market , ” enjoin Sim .
Representatives of Apple were not immediately available for remark as MacCentral posted this article .
