Software company Burst.com alleges that Apple's iTunes and iPod products infringe on Burst's video and audio transceiving patents.Burst.com on April 17 followed up on its promise to countersue Apple, alleging patent infringement in documents filed in a San Francisco federal court.
Apple originally filed suit against Burst in January for declaratory relief, alleging patent invalidity or non-infringement. The two companies had been negotiating the issuance of a license to cover Apple's iPod and iTunes products.
"In the time that's passed since January, two things have happened," said Burst co-founder Richard Lang. "One, there's been no progress in the settlement talks with Apple. And two, we've added a few law firms that are very enthusiastic about prosecuting our case."
One of those law firms, according to Lang, is Susman Godfrey, which has been involved in several high-profile patent and inventor rights cases, including the current eBay v. MercExchange case before the Supreme Court.
Burst settled a patent and antitrust suit against Microsoft last year. Microsoft licensed Burst's patents and paid a lump sum of $60 million. Burst's technology now appears in Windows Media Player.
The patents under dispute include the ability to send video and audio across a network at "Faster-Than-Real-Time" speeds. Or, in other words, the ability to compress video and transmit it faster than it would take to watch that same video under normal circumstances.
The patent numbers are #4963995, Audio/Video Transceiver Apparatus Including Compression Means, filed in 1988; #5164839, Method for Handling Audio/Video Source Information, filed in 1991; and #5995705, Burst Transmission Apparatus and Method for Video Information, filed in 1997.
Burst was founded in 1988. A full list of its 10 U.S. patents can be found on its Web site.
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