Apple lawyers have asked the judge to throw out a lawsuit brought against the company by Burst.com alleging patent infringement. Burst claims that Apple's iTunes Store, iTunes software, the iPod devices and Apple's QuickTime Streaming products are all affected by the patents.
Burst said in an April 2006 filing that its technology has been essential to Apple's success, providing it with a critical audio and video-on-demand media delivery solution. Burst's Chairman & CEO Richard Lang said the company did not want to settle things in court, but will enforce its patent.
"It's not some epiphanous, oh my God, when you put all these things together you have an iPod," Matthew Powers, Apple's attorney, told U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel at a hearing in San Francisco, reportsBloomberg. "That is what they are trying to do to save the core, which is obviously all in the prior art. None of which is invented by Mr. Lang."
Microsoft settled a similar lawsuit brought by Burst in March 2005. Microsoft paid Burst $60 million for a non-exclusive license for the patents.
No decision was reached in the case.
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