The patent covers technology that enables a person to navigate among the thousands of songs that could potentially be stored in today's digital music players.

Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., was not immediately available for comment, but Creative made it clear that it believed its patented technology was in the Apple iPod and iPod Mini, as well as in other competing players. The company, however, did not say whether it would seek royalties.

The Creative patent covers technology invented in the company's research center in Scotts Valley, Calif. The invention was first used in Creative's Nomad Jukebox MP3 player, which was first shipped to U.S. retailers in September 2000, the Singapore company said. Creative applied for the so-called "Zen Patent" on Jan. 5, 2001 and it was awarded on Aug. 9. The name applies to Creative's new line of players, including the Zen Vision that was launched this month.

Apple filed a provisional patent application for a multimedia player user interface July 30, 2002, more than a year and a half after Creative filed for its patent. Apple filed its final application Oct. 28, 2002, which was rejected this month by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent, however, was tossed based on Microsoft Corp. patent applications that covered much of the same technology.

During a teleconference with reporters, Craig McHugh, president of Creative, would not say whether the company planned to ask Apple to license the technology, or demand that it not use it at all.

"We're currently evaluating all alternatives, and we're looking at all the alternatives available to us," McHugh said.

Creative has struggled unsuccessfully to make a dent in Apple's domination of the portable media player market. The latter company, which has shipped nearly 22 million iPods, accounts for about 75 percent of digital music players sold in the United States, according to the NPD Group

By: DocMemory
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