ZapMedia Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Apple, Inc. Related to Apple’s iTunes and Related Media Player Products

ZapMedia Services, Inc. (ZapMedia Services) today announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) for unspecified damages related to the company’s iTunes internet site and related media players such as the iPod. The lawsuit comes after multiple attempts by ZapMedia Services to resolve its concerns with Apple over infringement of ZapMedia Services’ patents.

Beginning in the late 1990s, ZapMedia, Inc., the predecessor of ZapMedia Services, created a unique platform and vision for the enjoyment of digital media assets. In connection with this vision, ZapMedia developed a system by which it could provide hardware, software and content to consumers to allow them to gain control over their digital media assets. To protect this intellectual property, ZapMedia has obtained U.S. Patent Numbers 7,020,704 and 7,343,414, each of which is entitled “System and method for distributing media assets to user devices via a portal synchronized by said user devices.”

In the course of its efforts, ZapMedia met with many major technology and media companies around the globe, including Apple, describing its vision in great detail. Without asking ZapMedia for permission, Apple subsequently unveiled its own system. Apple announced its iPod MP3 player with an integrated iTunes software application in October of 2001 and its iTunes store in April 2003.

The suit was filed in the Marshall Division of the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. “The Complaint alleges that ZapMedia Services’ property is being exploited in a manner which is unlawful, and by law ZapMedia Services is therefore entitled to a reasonable royalty on Apple’s revenues related to the infringement,” said Steven G. Hill, of Hill, Kertscher & Wharton, LLP, lead litigation counsel to ZapMedia Services.

Dating to June 2006 and continuing through the fall of 2007, ZapMedia made Apple aware of the patents and their availability for license. “When someone takes our vision and our intellectual property without a license after several attempts, we have no option but to protect it through every means available to us,” said Robert J. Frohwein, general counsel of ZapMedia Services.
Contacts

ZapMedia Services, Inc.
Robert J. Frohwein
Phone: 770-804-9030
Fax: 770-804-0900
E-mail: rfrohwein {at} zapmediaservices(.)com
or
Hill, Kertscher & Wharton, LLP
Steven G. Hill
770-953-0995
SGH {at} hkw-law(.)com