Patent Application Could be Trouble for Zune
August 26th, 2006
While Microsoft is touting the wonders of the music sharing features of the new Zune media player, I’m quite familiar with a project in which a team from the MIT Media lab developed a similar wireless music sharing capability a couple of years ago. The team filed a patent application back at the end of 2005 for virtually the exact functionality that Microsoft is planning.
The abstract of the patent documents reads:
Methods and apparatus for providing synchronous playback of the same piece of time-based media on multiple devices connected over heterogenous channels consisting of varying degrees of delay. The preferred embodiment of the invention is a handheld music player that uses a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth communications link to enable users to share music with similar nearby players and to synchronously play back the same music different players simultaneously. Users of all players tuned into one source hear the same thing at the same time, enabling the feeling of a shared music experience. Users can also use their players to exchange profile information and text messages.
Could this spell trouble down the road for Microsoft if this patent is eventually awarded?
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Categories: Media Players
I’m no attorney but that sure seems like it should cause them some trouble for that specific feature. Microsoft has filed some trademarks on the device but I see this patent raising issues if they are unaware of it. Do you know if these patent holders have been contacted by Microsoft about their conflicts or if the holders intend to pursue cliams? I’m very interested to see how this plays out.
See the Zune trademarks at our site here http://www.zunemax.com/the-zune/zune-us-trademark-application-filed
Well that document you have simply covers the trademark on the brand, not the patent on the feature set. Certainly, the folks who filed this patent application could have a case against Microsoft if the patent is ever granted. That said, their filing is fairly recent, and it will probably take 3 or 4 years to make it through the bureaucracy at the USPTO before we know anything.
I wonder if this granted patent may also overlap Zune’s wireless feature.
United States Patent 6,757,517 June 29, 2004
Apparatus and method for coordinated music playback in wireless ad-hoc networks
Abstract
The present invention details a novel application of wireless networking and digital music technologies to achieve coordinated and synchronized music playback among peer listeners connected by wireless ad-hoc networks. Two or more listeners in local proximity allowed by short-range wireless transmission can participate and listen to the same song at the same time. Moreover, the present invention allows listeners in the transmission range to discover each other through profile matching. A high matching score may indicate similar preference or taste to a certain music style thereby easily locating mutual interests, which would not have been possible.