A U.S. International Trade Commission judge handed Apple a win Friday, ruling that a media player patent that netted Creative Technologies, a Singapore software company a $100 million settlement with Apple is invalid.
Administrative Law Judge David Shaw of the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) has ruled that Creative Technology’s patent that addresses music library navigation and sorting in the iPod, and now iOS overall, was too abstract to be eligible for a patent.
Creative Tech sued Apple for infringing on patents involving its Zen music players. Apple countersued, claiming Creative was infringing on Apple patents for user interfaces such as that of the iPod. The companies agreed to settle the legal brouhaha for $100 million in August 2006.
