Patent Law
Patent law is being examined this week after it was revealed that a British man actually held the original patents for Apple Computer’s popular iPod music player. Kane Kramer drew up the original plans for the first portable computer based music player in 1979, and was able to fit three and a half minutes of music on a microchip. After a round of funding fell out on Kramer who needed roughly $100,000 to file patents on the player in 120 countries, the technology became public domain. Has Apple even acknowledged Kramer’s idea? AboveTheLaw.com has the story:
But thanks to a dispute between Apple and Burst.com, Apple needed Kramer. Apple flew Kramer to California to give crucial testimony about the prior art behind the iPod. The dispute between Apple and Burst.com was settled out of court, but Apple is stuck with the price of admitting that the iPod was invented across the pond.
Apple has yet to actually pay a price, of course. They paid Kramer a consultancy fee for his testimony. But they are “negotiating” whether they have to give Kramer anything more than that. The patent-less Kramer is trying to wring some money out of Apple for his copyright in his original iPod drawings.
Got an idea you want to patent? Check out this great global guide to patent offices around the world.
