Legal Issues
Creative Labs, the American subsidiary of Creative Technology, was awarded a patent on a music management interface (now commonly seen on audio players, including the Apple iPod) by the US Patent and Trademark Office on 25 August 2005, having applying for it on 5 January 2001. Apple had filed for a similar patent on 22 October 2002 but that application was rejected. At the launch of the Vision:M, Creative announced that it would "aggressively pursue" respect of its patents, addressing "all manufacturers that use the same navigation system." So far, Creative has only addressed Apple's infringement of its patent. Creative announced on 15 May 2006, that it had launched a lawsuit against Apple for the infringement of the ZEN patent (Creative also asked the US Trade Commission to investigate whether Apple was breaching trade laws by importing iPods into the US), which was then counter-sued by Apple on the same day, filing two lawsuits for infringing their patents. Subsequently, Apple and Creative reached a settlement, with Apple paying $100 million to Creative, and Creative joining the "Made for iPod" accessory program.
Read more about this topic: Creative ZEN
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