Creative in a Separate Action Today Filed a Lawsuit for Damages Against
Apple Computer Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
California for Infringement of "Zen Patent" Which Covers the User Interface
in Creative Portable Digital Media Players and the iPod, iPod Nano and iPod
Mini
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Creative
Technology Ltd. (Nasdaq: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital
entertainment products, today announced that it has filed a complaint with
the U.S. International Trade Commission requesting that the Commission
institute an investigation of whether Apple Computer Inc. has violated
Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 through its importation and sale
after importation into the United States of iPods and iPod Nanos that
infringe U.S. Patent 6,928,433, which Creative refers to as the "Zen(TM)
Patent." As relief, Creative is seeking an exclusion order and cease and
desist order against Apple Computer Inc. The orders sought would prohibit
Apple Computer Inc. from engaging in sales, marketing, importation or sale
after importation into the United States, or other infringing activities in
the United States with regard to the infringing iPod and iPod Nano
products.
Creative also filed a lawsuit today against Apple Computer Inc. in the
United States District Court for the Northern District of California that
seeks an injunction and increased damages for Apple Computer Inc.'s willful
infringement of the Zen Patent.
The United States Patent Office issued the Zen Patent to Creative on
August 9, 2005 for its invention of the user interface used by most
portable digital media players, including many of the Creative Zen and
NOMAD(R) Jukebox MP3 players and competing players such as the iPod, iPod
Nano and iPod mini.
Working at Creative's Scotts Valley, California facility, Creative's
engineers invented the user interface covered by the Zen Patent to address
the challenges of convenient organization and access of songs on
high-capacity portable digital media players. Creative subsequently
implemented its now-patented interface on its NOMAD Jukebox player, which
was announced and presented as a functioning prototype at the Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) in January 2000. The user interface covered by the
Zen Patent has since been implemented in a variety of Creative players, the
most recent being the award-winning Zen Vision:M.
Filings with the U.S. International Trade Commission are available at
http://www.usitc.gov. Filings with the U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of California are available at http://www.cand.uscourts.gov. The full
text and images of the Zen Patent, U.S. 6,928,433 are available at
http://www.uspto.gov.
About Creative
Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC
users. Famous for its Sound Blaster(R) sound cards and for launching the
multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the
PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed MuVo(R) and Zen
portable audio players. Creative's innovative hardware, proprietary
technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling
consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment -- anytime,
anywhere.
NOTE: This announcement refers to products and pricing sold in the
United States of America. MuVo and Zen are trademarks of Creative
Technology Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries. All other
brand and product names are trademarks of their respective holder and are
hereby recognized as such.
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