Industry News

As reported in the SYS-CON Media August 13 podcast, an examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has rejected Apple's applicatino for some of the concepts behing the iPod.

Microsoft had already applied for similar concepts, the examiner ruled.

This sort of tussle is not unusual at the PTO. Technology companies are familir with controversial rulings, from an infamous case in the 80s involving search-and-retrieval, to the more recent granting of a one-click patent to Yahoo, to innumerable disputes about the specificity of certain patents and the timing and relevance of which companies were  "first past the post" in actually creating and selling a product based on a specific patents.

Microsoft's initial reaction to the news appeared to be of the cat that ate the canary variety, as David Kaefer, the company's director of intellectual property licensing coolly told reporters that the company is always open to licensing "its" technology and that ""Microsoft and Apple have previously licensed their respective patent portfolios to one another and we maintain a good working relationship with Apple." But Kaefer also reportedly agreed that it may be a bit premature to speculate that Apple will have to send Microsoft a check for each iPod.

For its part, Apple has initially noted that the company "has received many patents for inventions related to iPod, and has many more patents pending. The U.S. patent process is often a lengthy one, involving much back and forth with the U.S. patent office. Apple will continue to pursue this patent application, as well as the many others covering iPod innovations."