Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Apple, Samsung, Sandisk Sued Over Patent

By: Priyanka Pradhan

Texas -based company, MP3 Technologies has reportedly sued bigwigs Apple, Sandisk and Samsung on grounds of patent infringement.

The suit, filed on Feb 16, in Marshall, Texas alleges that the three companies have infringed on US patent 7,065,417, which was awarded in June 2006 to multimedia chip-maker SigmaTel and covers 'an MPEG portable sound reproducing system and a method for reproducing sound data compressed using the MPEG method'.

SigmaTel said that it had sold the patent to a Dallas-based patent licensing agency because it believed the agency would be better able to take advantage of its potential value.

Meanwhile, SigmaTel had retained international rights to the patent and has insulated its customers from any legal action associated with the patent.

Now MP3 Technologies claims to have purchased the patent from SigmaTel through the Dallas licensing agency.In its lawsuit, Texas MP3 Technologies said it is the 'assignee of all rights' of the patent and holds 'all rights of recovery.' The company is now asking for a jury trial.

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