The nascent video download market Apple has tried to develop with iTunes and the video iPod could mean paying Burst some serious technology licensing fees.
Microsoft had to part with $60 million to get Burst.com off its back in April 2005 over the usage of Burst’s intellectual property. That technology appears in the Windows Media Player.
Apple could end up paying more. Tech pundit Robert X. Cringely added an update to his most recent post citing a lawsuit filed by Apple against Burst:
Apple Computer filed a lawsuit this week asking for a declaratory judgment against Burst.com. The two companies had long been in negotiations for a license to Burst’s many digital media patents, a possibility I mentioned here several weeks ago. “I can understand why they did this,” said Burst CEO Richard Lang.
“Apple is doing so much business in this area that (the royalty) is inevitably a very large number.”
Burst will shortly file a counter-suit for patent infringement.
The two sides had been negotiating a licensing agreement. Now, Apple wants the patents in question declared invalid, or for the court to find Apple’s use does not infringe upon them, MacDailyNews reported.
Cringely anticipated the potential for a lawsuit in an earlier column in December 2005. He sees this development as enhancing the interest around the forthcoming MacWorld conference.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
