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Smart Audio Technologies recently filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, alleging the company violated its patent in devices such as the iPad Nano, which create random song playlists.
US Patent 6185163 is the patent that Apple is accused of violating. The document language states that the patent relates to, "a method is provided for altering a play list of a Random Access Player without interrupting the generation of output by the Player."
Apple has dealt with a number of similar lawsuits in the past, recently paying out $8 million to Personal Audio, in a case involving a random playlist patent. Tech companies can look to these cases as motivation to invest in a good professional liability insurance policy with intellectual property protections.
One of the other patent infringement lawsuits Apple is dealing with is in China, where Proview Shenzhen Technology believes Apple has violated its patented "iPad" name. Proview claims to have held rights to the name since the early 2000s.
The Chinese company is asking for $38 million in damages from Apple, and the case will come before a district court in Shanghai in February.