Burst.com, Inc. announced Monday that it had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple Computer, saying that Apple’s iTunes Music Store, iTunes software, the iPod devices, and Apple’s QuickTime Streaming products all infringed on patents owned by Burst.com. The suit comes in response to a lawsuit filed by Apple in January of 2006 seeking to have Burst.com’s patents declared invalid.
This latest round of legal action was preceded by a lawsuit with Microsoft over some of the same patents that resulted in a settlement from Redmond, WA-based Microsoft to the tune of US$60 million. That settlement included a non-exclusive license for Microsoft to use technologies relating to Burst.com’s patents.
Burst.com alleged in Monday’s press release that, "Apple may have assumed that Burst’s patents would be invalidated in Microsoft’s defense of the then-pending litigation" against Microsoft.
"While we had hoped to avoid litigation and negotiate a reasonable license fee [with Apple]," said Burst.com Chairman & CEO Richard Lang, "it is Apple’s own actions that have forced our hand. We now look to the courts to reaffirm Burst’s rights as innovators and to be paid fairly for our widely acknowledged contributions to the industry."
The company is also claiming that it is iPod and iTunes, which are reliant upon Burst.com’s patents, that have been "essential to Apple’s success, providing it with a critical audio and video-on-demand media delivery solution."
Apple’s policy is to not comment on ongoing litigation. Since Apple filed its lawsuit against Burst.com in January, the latter got an extension to a deadline for responding to that suit. Today’s announcement would indicate the direction the two companies have since gone.