Apple settles iTunes patent dispute

Apple has become the latest in a line of companies licensing patents from the relatively obscure E-Data, a company that claims to hold property rights on the process of selling music online.

E-Data said yesterday it had reached a European agreement with Apple that gave the company worldwide rights for its iTunes Music Store. It has now launched a new round of patent infringement suits against 14 companies including Amazon.com and The New York Times.

Previously, E-Data sued and settled with Microsoft, as well as a handful of other companies, largely under European patent rules.

E-Data chairman Bert Brodsky said: "This settlement with Apple marks another important milestone, as we aggressively pursue companies that are infringing upon our intellectual property. We have identified additional companies that are infringing upon our intellectual property, both in the US and abroad, and will seek the necessary legal actions to ensure that our rights are enforced worldwide."

E-Data has been one of the most successful of a generation of companies that has emerged claiming patent rights to what many view as basic internet business or technology procedures, such as ecommerce, streaming media and web browser elements.

The company's patents, granted in 1985, cover the transmission of information to a remote point-of-sale location, where the information is then transferred to a material object. The company says that includes the sale of digital music online which can then be burned to a CD or transferred to a hard drive device such as an iPod.

John Borland writes for News.com