Does Apple have $210,000,000.00 ?

[EVPohovich]

linky

Computer firm Apple may have to pay Microsoft £6 for each iPod it sells after a huge licensing lapse.

Lawyers at Bill Gates' firm filed a patent for technology behind the hugely successful digital music player two months before Apple.

£6 = $10 USD

[Visionray]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050816/ipod_microsoft.html?.v=2

Read the AP article, it's a bit more objective.

[PAlexC]

Apple could file a declaration stating that it invented the technology before Microsoft filed its patent request -- as evidenced by all the iPods already on the market at the time. In such cases, a company can ask the patent office to launch an investigation to determine the inventor.

Prior art, same thing that was employed against Eolas.

[Subway]

Yeah, the first iPod was out before MS submitted their patent. That's prior art, so there's no way MS could win this case.

Fredi