From AppleInsider:

A recent out-of-court settlement between Apple Computer and a Vermont-based inventor has landed Apple the rights to a prestigious software design patent that may allow the company to seek royalties on a broad spectrum of digital downloads.

Michael Starkweather, a lawyer and author of the 10-year old patent, issued a statement on Thursday calling it a “billion dollar patent” that will have affects on the future of the “cell phone, iPod and PDA” industries.

“I believe that, with this patent in hand, Apple will eventually be after every phone company, film maker, computer maker and video producer to pay royalties on every download of not just music but also movies and videos,” he said.

Starkweather, who wrote the patent in 1996 for David Contois of Essex Junction, Vt.-based Contois Music Technology, said the inventor originally didn’t show interest in patenting the idea nor did he understand its value.

The initial concept consisted of a desktop computer holding multiple songs with an interface that allowed a hotel guest to select three songs and play them on an electric grand piano.

Realizing that downloading movies was an obvious variation to downloading music, Starkweather broke the patent into three elements; remote music storage, selection of music to download and playing music on a music device.

The suit alleged Apple later “copied” the invention and used the design ideas in the interface for iTunes.

“Sometimes it’s easy to break an invention down to its key components,” he said. “That’s why patent writing is an art, not a science, and requires creativity.”

Indeed.  It’s a good thing Apple’s mantra is Don’t Be Evil, because otherwise Apple just gave media companies (both record labels and film studios) a bigger reason to hate him.  Oh, wait.  Google’s mantra is Don’t Be Evil.

Apple’s is Think Different, which is ironic because media firms will have to start thinking differently if Jobs decides to throw around his legal weight with this decision.

What’s really ironic and once again should serve as a lesson, is that this originated from the decision by Contois Music Technology in 2005 to ask a Federal Court to stop the iPod maker from distributing its iTunes jukebox software and is seeking damages over an alleged patent violation by the iTunes software.  That led to the decision granting Apple the billion-dollar patent.
Maybe we were onto something when we lumped Apple into the Top 10 Best High Tech Stocks of Past, Present and Future.

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