Editing Creative Zen (section)

== Legal issues ==
Creative Labs, the American subsidiary of [[Creative Technology Limited]], was awarded a patent on a music management interface (commonly seen on audio players, including the [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] [[iPod]]) by the [[US Patent and Trademark Office]] on 25 August 2005,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=15&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&p=1&S1=%28creative.AS.+AND+player.CLM.%29|title= Automatic hierarchical categorization of music by metadata - United States Patent Application|last=Goodman|first=Ron}}</ref> having applied for it on 5 January 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creative.com/zenpatent/|title=ZEN Patent Press Conference Speech Transcript|last=McHugh|first=Craig|publisher=Creative Labs|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210072934/http://www.creative.com/zenpatent/|archive-date=2007-02-10}}</ref> Apple had filed for a similar patent on 22 October 2002 but that application was rejected.<ref name="Rejected">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4198360.stm|title=Creative wins MP3 player patent|work=BBC News | date=August 30, 2005 | access-date=January 2, 2010}}</ref> At the launch of the Vision:M, Creative announced that it would "aggressively pursue" respect of its patents, addressing "all manufacturers that use the same navigation system."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4510044.stm|title=Apple faces iPod patent dispute|last=Hermida|first=Alfred|work=BBC News | date=December 8, 2005 | access-date=January 2, 2010}}</ref> So far, Creative has only addressed Apple's infringement of its patent. Creative announced on 15 May 2006, that it had launched a lawsuit against Apple for the infringement of the ZEN patent<ref>{{cite web|url=http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/05/15/creative/index.php|title=Creative sues Apple for patent infringement|last=Dalrymple|first=Jim|publisher=Playlist Magazine|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014063806/http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/05/15/creative/index.php|archive-date=2007-10-14}}</ref> (Creative also asked the [[United States International Trade Commission|US Trade Commission]] to investigate whether Apple was breaching trade laws by importing iPods into the US),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=14646|title=Creative sues Apple over patent|last=McMillan|first=Robert|publisher=Macworld}}</ref> which was then counter-sued by Apple on the same day, filing two lawsuits for infringing their patents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/05/19/lawsuit/index.php|title=Apple sues Creative over iPod patents|last=Dalrymple|first=Jim|publisher=Playlist Magazine|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613180959/http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/05/19/lawsuit/index.php|archive-date=2006-06-13}}</ref> Subsequently, Apple and Creative reached a settlement, with Apple paying $100 million to Creative, and Creative joining the "Made for iPod" accessory program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1988|title=Apple's settlement seen as the right move|last=Marsal|first=Katie|publisher=AppleInsider|access-date=2007-01-26|archive-date=2006-10-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061018051552/http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1988|url-status=dead}}</ref>