Apple, AT&T and many others sued over Shazam Music Recognition Capabilities

[sayam]

Though we do not follow every Apple lawsuit closely - there are dozens of them - this one seems to be rather funny!

A company named Tune Hunter, Inc. filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple and several other companies including Samsung, Napster, Motorola, Gracenote, LG Electronics, Pantech Wireless, and Cellco Partnership (Verizon Wireless) just because they allowed the download of Shazam - a music recognition app that infringes their "Music Identification System" patent - on their mobile platforms!

In the patent, the company described it's application as relating "to a music identification/purchasing system, specifically to a method for marking the time and the name of the radio station in portable device such as a key holder, watch, cellular phone, beeper or the like which will allow the user to learn via internet or regular telephone the name of the song, artist and/or music company by matching the stored data with broadcast archive."

This is quite similar to the core functionality of Shazam app that recognizes music being played from any source such as a radio, audio player etc, locates it in it's database and allows you to "tag" it to get certain information about the track like lyrics, related youtube videos, track review and much more, and even provides iTunes and Amazon link to purchase it.

Though, the company doesn't have gripes with any particular defendant but broadly blames them for contributing to "willful and deliberate" infringement by allowing the app to sell even though it claims to notify "one or more" of them. The company seeks them to pay the damages and stop further infringement.

[AppleInsider]

[blacksti]

Well apples gonna win no way that will stand LONG LIVE SHAZAM

[wolverinemarky]

lol the possibility that this company wins this fight are nil they better hope that they dont get countersued by all of these companies and the legal fees alone will put them out of business

[arkaneivories]

Wait...did they even name the company that makes shazam in their lawsuit...?

[Jordo_6]

This is Stupid lol, Shazam is great! I've used it pretty much every since it came out and last night alone I used it more than 5 times.

[carlos.michell]

They are taking a big risk suing so many companies at once. Man that some big names there suing.

[carlos.michell]

They are taking a big risk suing so many companies at once. Man that some big names there suing.

[lillewis51]

yea i think there screwed. good luck though. maybe apple will actually lose one.

[dookie454]

Wait...did they even name the company that makes shazam in their lawsuit...?

Yes, and other people too...

Plaintiff: Tune Hunter Inc
Defendant: Samsung Telecommunications America LLC, Apple Inc, Shazam Entertainment Ltd, Amazon.com Inc, Napster LLC, Motorola Inc, Gracenote Inc, Cellco Partnership, LG Electronics USA Inc, AT&T Mobility LLC and Pantech Wireless Inc

[shadowtrainer02]

well i personally think it's good that apple is FINALLY experiencing some form of law threats. after all, they've been semi-threatening saurik and directly lobbying in their fight with the EFF, I think it's good that they get a little taste of their own medicine.

[davidmdowning42]

Patents are freaking weird. Am I right in thinking that you can patent a concept without any concrete way to actually implement it? That's what it seems like when I peruse the few I've seen. Makes it hard to believe that anybody can make anything that isn't patented already:

A device which by snapping onto the earlobes allows one to fly by the power of their own flatulence. See diagram A.

[punklove]

um, fools, the lot of ya!- the guy should sue everyone who profited based on the technology he made- If he told Apple about the infringement, and they kept selling it and paying someone else AND themselves- then duh- they did something wrong- IF the guy has the rights to an infringed patent, then why isnt it reasonable that he should make the choice on how to use it- or shouldnt be re-imbursed for misappropriation. the tricky question i think, is that Shazam is free, and apple has been giving it away free- but they definitely benefit from FREE QUALITY apps...

sorry if i was rude, but ya'all aint giving the original developer who got ripped off his fair shake here- if apple released winterboard through the appstore, without paying saurik- wouldnt you think thats messed up- or if another dev released winterboard through the appstore, and apple paid them for it-

[AshleyPaige]

My question is why aren't they suing the creators of Shazam? If it's a patent lawsuit wouldn't the ones who copied the patent be at fault?

[jayune]

dawm i wonder how many lawyers apple has cus thats a lot of lawsuits

[StealthBravo]

^ An army of lawyers

[ahab228]

isn't Shazam a Free download from the appstore. I believe it is which is the only reason i downloaded it.

[CZroe]

...
In the patent, the company described it's application as relating "to a music identification/purchasing system, specifically to a method for marking the time and the name of the radio station in portable device such as a key holder, watch, cellular phone, beeper or the like which will allow the user to learn via internet or regular telephone the name of the song, artist and/or music company by matching the stored data with broadcast archive."
...

So, they hold the patent to Sony's emarker, because that's EXACTLY how it worked.
Sony eMarker: How a Clever System Works

Shazam, on the other hand, can ID music from any source. Hear something coming out of the speaker in the doctor's office? It's not going to come up on a database of what was being played on local radio.

...
This is quite similar to the core functionality of Shazam app that recognizes music being played from any source such as a radio, audio player etc, locates it in it's database and allows you to "tag" it to get certain information about the track like lyrics, related youtube videos, track review and much more, and even provides iTunes and Amazon link to purchase it.
...

That's not at all the same. At issue here is the mobile identification technology, which has nothing to do with comparing time codes to a database of what was playing on the air at that moment. Everything else is the same related info as iTunes or Windows Media Player would give you.

[shabz_de_don]

ouch thats gotta be painful!!! apple do need to lose a few dont ya think

[MetallicaFan1991]

Apple aren't going to lose, neither are any of the other companies. It's just all these companies are jealous of the profits these companies make and so they decide to sue even it's just plain stupid.

[boe_dye]

maybe Pandora ought sue apple for the Genius feature that is now implemented in iTunes.

We should just have everyone sue everyone for something so that everyone get's it out of their sue happy system and then we will all realize that taking someone to court isn't anything at all like judge judy and that it is ultimately a long, expensive physically and emotionally draining process that would be better suited for doing something useful with our lives.

Those are just my thoughts on the whole matter.