Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[butterfly111]

Singapore's Creative seeks to halt US sale of iPods
By John Burton in Singapore
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Posted: 06:30 AM EDT (11:30 London)
http://us.ft.com/ftsuperpage/superpage.php?news_id=fto051620060745298259&referrer_id=yahoofinanc....
Creative Technology (NASDAQ:CREAF) , the Singapore-based consumer electronics group, has filed patent complaints against Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) , including seeking to halt the import and sale of iPods in the US.

Creative had previously threatened to sue Apple for alleged infringements after the Singapore company received a patent for its Zen music player last year.

The filings come after Creative recently reported a record quarterly loss of US$114m, for which it blamed falling prices in the digital player market and unsold inventory.

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.Creative alleged that Apple iPod devices use software menus similar to those on Creative's Zen and Nomad brands that allow users to find and play back music.

The company is seeking an injunction and increased damages for Apple's "willful infringement of the Zen patent", which was initially filed in 2001.

It also filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission asking the agency to determine whether Apple had violated trade laws by selling iPod and iPod Nano music players, imported from China, because of the alleged patent infringements.

Creative asked for an exclusion order and cease-and-desist order against Apple that would prohibit it from selling, marketing or importing iPods in the US.

Creative has been seen as one of Singapore's few successful entrepreneurial companies with global recognition, largely due to its popular Sound Blaster sound card in the 1990s.

But the company has stumbled in its ambition to challenge Apple and its iconic iPod for global leadership of the digital music player market.

A year after Sim Wong Hoo, Creative founder and chief executive, announced the strategy to take on Apple, the price of MP3 players has fallen in a competitive and volatile market, forcing Creative to write down the value of its inventory. Sales of its MP3 players also fell 51 per cent from the previous quarter.

Analysts believe that Creative faces an uphill struggle to remain a viable MP3 player producer since it is also being challenged by Samsung and Sony (NYSE:SNE) , while Nokia and Motorola (NYSE:MOT) are adding MP3 functions to their mobile phones.

"The court filings should be seen as separate from Creative's near-term prospects with MP3 players since the legal process is likely to take a long time. Even if Creative abandons the MP3 business, it could still extract a lot of money from Apple if it wins a patent dispute," said Patrick Yau with Macquarie Research in Singapore.