Burst.com on April 17 followed up on its promise to countersue Apple, alleging patent infringement in documents filed in a San Francisco federal court.
Apple originally filed suitagainst Burst in January for declaratory relief, alleging patent invalidity or non-infringement. The two companies had been negotiating the issuance of a license to cover Apples iPod and iTunes products.
“Theres no question in the public record of who initiated these methodologies,” Bursts co-founder and CEO Richard Lang told Publish.com in January, referring to the several patents under contention. “We spent most of the 90s promoting these methodologies.”
Burst settled a patent and antitrust suit against Microsoft last year. Microsoft licensed Bursts patents and paid a lump sum of $60 million. Bursts technology now appears in Windows Media Player.