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Scotts Valley, Calif. - May 15, 2006 - Creative Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, today announced that it has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission requesting that the Commission institute an investigation of whether Apple Computer Inc. has violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 through its importation and sale after importation into the United States of iPods and iPod Nanos that infringe U.S. Patent 6,928,433, which Creative refers to as the "ZEN™ Patent." As relief, Creative is seeking an exclusion order and cease and desist order against Apple Computer Inc. The orders sought would prohibit Apple Computer Inc. from engaging in sales, marketing, importation or sale after importation into the United States, or other infringing activities in the United States with regard to the infringing iPod and iPod Nano products.
Creative also filed a lawsuit today against Apple Computer Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California that seeks an injunction and increased damages for Apple Computer Inc.'s willful infringement of the ZEN Patent.
The United States Patent Office issued the ZEN Patent to Creative on August 9, 2005 for its invention of the user interface used by most portable digital media players, including many of the Creative ZEN and NOMAD® Jukebox MP3 players and competing players such as the iPod, iPod Nano and iPod mini.
Working at Creative's Scotts Valley, California facility, Creative's engineers invented the user interface covered by the ZEN Patent to address the challenges of convenient organization and access of songs on high-capacity portable digital media players. Creative subsequently implemented its now-patented interface on its NOMAD Jukebox player, which was announced and presented as a functioning prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, 2000. The user interface covered by the ZEN Patent has since been implemented in a variety of Creative players, the most recent being the award-winning ZEN Vision:M.
Filings with the U.S. International Trade Commission are available at www.usitc.gov. Filings with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California are available at www.cand.uscourts.gov. The full text and images of the ZEN Patent, U.S. 6,928,433 are available at www.uspto.gov.
About Creative
Creative (NASDAQ: CREAF) is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed MuVo® and ZEN portable audio players. Creative's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment -- anytime, anywhere.
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This announcement refers to products and pricing sold in the United States of America. MuVo and ZEN are trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective holder and are hereby recognized as such.