Transcript
ECE 400
Spring 2008
Professional Development Assignment #4 Intellectual Property Case Study Due: 11:59 PM, Thursday, March 20, 2008 Submit PDF on Blackboard Description: This assignment is related to a wildly popular product from Apple, namely, iPod. Although iPod is a commercially wildly successful product, it faced several legal challenges in 2005. Advanced Audio Devices filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that iPod infringed its U.S. Patent 6,587,403 on a “music jukebox.” Creative Technology also claimed that part of the iPod’s music selection interface breached its U.S. Patent 6,928,433 on "Zen" player. Moreover, Apple’s application for a patent on “rotational user inputs” received a third “non-final rejection” (NFR), with the examiner citing an earlier 2002 application on “playlist generation based on seed items” filed by John Platt, a Microsoft Research scientist. You are being asked to review the relevant patents and identify the similarities and differences among the intellectual property protected in the patents held by Advanced Audio Devices, Creative Technology, and Apple.
Resources: Relevant patents and patent applications can be found at www.freepatentsonline.com, www.uspto.gov, and www.pat2pdf.org. Remember to cite your resources!
Assignment: In an essay format using 12pt Times New Roman font and having a total length of no more than three (3) pages, please address the following: 1. Review U.S. Patent 6,587,403 from Advanced Audio Devices and identify, with justification, the intellectual property that formed the basis of patent infringement lawsuit filed by Advanced Audio Devices. Argue for or against the claims made by Advanced Audio Devices. 2. Review U.S. Patent 6,928,433 from Creative Technology, and identify, with justification, any intellectual property that may also be covered in a patent held by Apple (and a continuation patent application) on “Graphical User Interface and Methods of use thereof in a Multimedia Player.” Argue for or against the decisions made by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to issue both patents. Your submission should be in the form of a PDF file. No other format will be accepted.
Grading Criteria: Your assignment will be graded out of 25 points, broken down as 10 points for effectively addressing each question (3 points for an effective summary and 7 points for
ECE 400
Spring 2008
presenting sound arguments), and 5 points for formatting, grammar, spelling and clear writing. Note: if you neglect to put your name on every page, your assignment will not be graded.
