Apple is once again facing a patent infringement suit regarding its market-defining iPod/iTunes combination, this time from Atlanta’s ZapMedia, which claims Apple’s system infringes on two patents related to distributing digital media via the Internet to multiple media players. ZapMedia applied for both patents back in October 1999; one (7,020,704) was granted in March 2006, while the other (7,343,414) was just granted yesterday. Both patents generally describe a method for sending digital content from Internet-based servers to multiple media players; if the patents stand up, they could be conceivably be applied to a wide range of products other than Apple’s iPod/iTunes combination, including current video game consoles, IPTV services, online media services like NetFlix and Amazon Unbox, as well as Microsoft’s Zune media players.
ZapMedia says it has tired to worrk out licensing arrangements with Apple, but the Cupertino company refused, leaving them no choice but to sue. “When someone takes our vision and our intellectual property without a license after several attempts, we have no option but to protect it through every means available to us,” said ZapMedia’s general counsel Robert Frohwein, in a statement.
ZapMedia is seeking royalties on sales of iPods and media sold via Apple’s iTunes store; combined sales of iPods and iTunes media accounted for almost $11 billion in revenue last year. Apple has not officially commented on the suit.
ZapMedia was founded in 1999 and several years ago marketed a “convergence product” called a ZapStation, a broadband-enabled Linux-based jukebox device that could receive streamed audio and video content and push it out to users’ home audio and video systems.
