Apple "nicked our ideas", claims Burst

BURST.COM has issued a countersuit against Apple in the latest patent row over AppleShare for Windows.

Apple was the first off the bat filing a lawsuit claiming that Burst had infringed its iTunes and iPod patents. Now Burst is claiming that Apple's iTunes store, software and iPod devices infringe upon four patents owned by its own good self.

Burst wants royalties and an injunction against further infringement. It says it was its technology which was responsible for Apple's success and now it is payday.

On the shopping list are Apple's iTunes Music Store, iTunes software, the iPods, and Apple's QuickTime Streaming which Burst claims inflidge US Patents 4,963,995; 5,995,705; 5,057,932 and 5,164,839.

The outfit has been pretty successful in defending its patents in the past. Last year Microsoft's number two Steve Ballmer had to write a cheque for more than $60 million to make a Burst law suit go away.

More here. µ