Not that Apple wasn't on the down side already, but now it is being hit with a patent suit on behalf of Restricted Spending Solutions (RSS), over functions included with the iTunes Allowance feature, within iTunes Store. The small California firm claims to hold a patent on the concepts used by this particular feature within iTunes.
The complaint barely filling 6-pages, RSS claims it developed
in 2001 methods for a "controlled entertainment spending account" that were later adopted by Apple without its authorization, according to appleinsider.com. The Newport Beach-based company also asserts it had successfully patented the concept five years later (2006).
RSS' November 28, 2006 Patent No. 7,143,064 is described as a "computer-based method for allocating funds in pre-established accounts for use by customers, by creating for each customer a customer account file containing a record of funds deposited for the customer, and limiting how the funds in each customer account file may be spent on audio and video entertainment."
Apple, of course, has a more colorful description of iTunes Store's Allowance features, which goes a little something like this: "...a nifty way for you to give a gift that keeps on giving. [It] allows you to send a monthly iTunes Store credit to a family member, friend, or colleague in an amount from $10 to $200. Each month, your chosen amount will automatically be added to your recipient's iTunes Store account."
It is believed that the respective iTunes Store characteristic has been implemented sometime during 2004, or even prior 2004. No proof to back that up just yet, though, but what makes the complaint more interesting is indeed the fact that RSS alleges Apple had full knowledge of its patent "since at least July 7, 2005," according to Apple Insider, thus causing irreparable damage.
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