A Utah couple has filed a lawsuit against Apple and Starbucks over the recent ‘Song of the Day’ promotion which offered Starbucks customers an iTunes gift card good for a specific song download from the iTunes online store.
What’s the problem?
They claim to have a patent over what they call “RPOS”, or Retail Point of Sale for online merchandising.
The couple claims that gift cards sold at brick-and-mortar stores that are redeemed for online merchandise is they’re idea.
They allegedly asked Apple to license their patent after it had been granted, but instead Apple seems to have decided to just pull the cards from US locations. The cards remain available in the UK.
What is the couple after?
They want to block the cards from being sold, royalties, and “enhanced damages” to compensate for perceived losses.
Maybe I should go apply for a patent for the process of blogging from a computer while sitting down, then start suing people that don’t license my idea but appear to be making money.
How did patent law get so screwed up?
[Via TUAW]
Filed under: tech | Tagged: apple, lawsuit, patent, starbucks, tech
