Creative: "Just try it, Apple"
In what could be easily construed as a preemptive strike against Apple legal, Creative's Sim Wong Hoo has gone on record stating that they will "pursue aggressively" companies that are infringing on their patent for a media player interface. He went on to say: "Hopefully this will be friendly, but people have to respect intellectual property." Their patent basically covers the use of a hierarchal menu structure for navigating media, which clearly encompasses the iPod's interface, even though it might have been in development at the time of the patent filing. This announcement comes on the heels of Creative releasing the Zen Vision:M player, which seems to "borrow" some Apple design elements. Sim denies any such copying, saying that their player has been in development for more than a year, and he also takes a swipe at Apple, stating that their player's FM and mic functions mark the "difference between a technology company and a branding company." Ooh, harsh.
[Thanks, CoreyTheGent]
