Apple loses 3-year iPod interface patent battle

After trying for almost three years to obtain a patent for the iPod's software interface, we've learned that Apple's application was rejected last month by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent application lists Steve Jobs and Apple VP Jeff Robbin as the two primary inventors.

AppleInsider reports that "Standing in Apple's way appears to be a prior filing by inventor John Platt, who submitted a patent application for a similar software design for a portable device in May of 2002 – just five months before Robbin submitted his claims on behalf of Apple." John Platt, by the way, is a Senior Researcher in the Knowledge Tools Group at a little company called Microsoft. His USPTO application describes a system that "generates playlists for a library collection of media items via selecting a plurality of seed items, at least one which is an undesirable seed item." Yup... sure sound like the iPod to me!

The USPTO allows a 3 month period for Apple to appeal the final decision, so we might not have heard the end of this one yet.