Burst.com files countersuit against Apple

Burst.com on Monday filed counterclaims accusing Apple Computer of infringing four of its U.S. patents, the Associate Press is reporting.

The claims, filed in the Federal District Court in San Francisco, allege that Apple's iTunes store, software and iPod devices infringe upon four patents owned by Burst.com. The company is seeking royalty fees from Apple and an injunction against further infringement.

Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Burst develops digital media delivery technologies for audio and video content.

The filings are in response to a suit that Apple filed against Burst in January, seeking a declaration that Burst's patents are invalid and that Apple does not infringe them.

According to coverage by BizJournals, Burst requests in its counterclaims that Apple pay a "reasonable" royalty.

The media company is represented by San Francisco law firm Hosie McArthur, which also represented Burst in last year's litigation against Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. Microsoft settled that litigation by paying Burst $60 million for a non-exclusive license to Burst's patents in March of last year.

Burst has also reportedly expanded its legal team in the Apple litigation to include Palo Alto-based intellectual property firm Carr & Ferrell, LLP, as well as the Seattle office of Susman Godfrey, LLP and Houston-based intellectual property firm Heim, Payne & Chorush, LLP.

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21 Comments

geo06

said about 17 years ago

Everybody is so greedy these days. Everyone wants to find a quick fix of money for anything that makes some.

elixir

said about 17 years ago

seriously the patent process needs to fucking change, and change fast.
for god sakes 10 different people can prob come up with the same idea that are similiar to eachother.
i mean unless its a blatant copy....
for christ sakes.

SpamSandwich

said about 17 years ago

Hard to believe, but one can actually make a decent living by having the foresight to develop patentable ideas that the big boys don't have the minds to exploit (since it's usually just outside of their core competancy) and license them back to those large, slow corporations. There's nothing wrong with this practice, and with reasonable royalty rates in place, no one gets hurt. 8) And before anyone disputes this, I also speak as an AAPL stockholder, so... chill dudes.

gene clean

said about 17 years ago

Quote:

Originally posted by geo06
Everybody is so greedy these days. Everyone wants to find a quick fix of money for anything that makes some.

Did you miss the part where it says countersued Apple?

sandboxface

said about 17 years ago

I don't feel the least bit sorry for Apple. Apple has sued many to 'protect their name' and 'protect their IP'. Several of those cases were way over reaching IMO. I'm a shareholder too.

I agree that the patent system must change, and I think there is a tremendous amount of opportunity for Apple if they decided to lead in that direction. The US patent system is outdated. It fails to address the acceleration of technology. It is doing more harm than good, especially in the pharma industry.