Creative asks the United States to ban 7 smartphone makers in patent war

Image credit: Pixabay

Here’s more patent drama from Creative Technology, a Singapore-based company which peaked in the 90s for its Sound Blaster sound cards. The company is pushing the United States to ban seven smartphone makers from allegedly selling patent-infringing products in the country, we have learned. Investigations by US authorities into this claim will begin at an unspecified time.

The US International Trade Commission, in a note released on its website, says that while it has approved an investigation, it “has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case.”

The smartphone makers involved here are: ZTE, Sony, Samsung, LG, Lenovo/Motorola, HTC, and Blackberry. According to Engadget, here’s what the disputed patent is about:

Allegedly, all of the companies are imitating Creative’s hierarchical menu system for media playback, much as the iPod supposedly duped Zen players a decade ago.

Engadget had more to say about how this investigation plays into Creative’s strategy:

It’s gambling that at least some of its targets will settle rather than risk seeing some of their most important products banned in the US. It’s not as though there’s a simple fix, either – the media interface that Creative describes is both very generic and near-ubiquitous, so avoiding it would require a major software redesign.

The stakes are decent-sized for Creative. It successfully filed a suit against Apple for patent infringement, resulting in the iPhone maker forking out US$100 million in licensing fees.

That’s a mountain of money for Creative, which had a net loss for US$33.4 million in 2015. So this is no frivolous effort. Creative is in the midst of a turnaround strategy that it hopes will help it become relevant to consumers again.

A lot of it has to do with virtual reality: it’s piloting a tech that lets video makers record footages of a game which viewers can maneuver around in. Imagine: you could move within a “video” of a recorded Minecraft game using your virtual reality googles – and see things from all angles.

Speaking of virtual reality headsets – Creative had announced plans to launch the Blaster X BR, which would cost US$49.99, and be available for purchase on its site. However, a recent check did not surface the headset.

The company’s financial performance has been mixed. It registered a small net profit of US$2.2 million in the first nine months of the latest financial year, up from a net loss of US$31 million, even though its sales has declined. The difference maker seems to be in the “others” category.