Creative Technology beats Apple on MP3 patent | Channel Register

Creative Technology beats Apple on MP3 patent | Channel Register: "Creative Technology has been crowing after it was awarded a patent for MP3 player interface technology used by devices like rival Apple's popular iPod.
Creative, maker of the Creative Zen and Nomad Jukebox MP3 players, said Tuesday it was 'very excited' by the patent award, adding this 'recognized' the company's innovation in this highly competitive and lucrative field.
The chuffed Creative reminded the MP3 buying public and a fickle industry, that it - and not its sexier, market leading rival Apple - was first to market with an MP3 player.
News of Creative's successful application is the second patent blow to Apple's iPod this month. AppleInsider reported in early August that a three-year battle by Apple to patent the iPod's menu-based interface had proved unsuccessful, thanks to a prior filing by inventor and Microsoft research scientist John Platt.
Platt's application described a system to 'generate playlists for a library collection of media items via selecting a plurality of seed items, at least one of which is an undesirable seed item.'
After Apple's original filing was rejected, the company sought a review of an amended set of claims to its patent, whose primary creators are listed as chief executive Steve Jobs and vice president Jeff Robbin. That review proved unsuccessful."