iPod Patents

You’d think that Apple’s iPod, the catalyst to a new generation of music consumers and a boon for the come-back computer maker, has a big lead. You’d think it’s Apple that’s run the Preempt . But not so fast. In August 2005, the U.S. Patent Office ruled that Apple’s bitter rival, Microsoft, is the rightful holder to a user interface patent for the handheld digital music player – the technical equivalent of iPod’s core technology. It seems that a lone Microsoft engineer filed the patent application five months ahead of Apple’s ambitious iPod team’s submission. It is a massive lapse that exposes Apple to royalty payments to Microsoft of as much as $10 for every one of its 21 million iPod’s sold to date.