Apple and Creative Settle iPod Suits and Countersuits--Creative to Get $100 Million from Apple

In order to move on in the MP3 player consumer space, Apple has admitted no wrongdoing but has agreed to give Creative Technology $100 million and drop its countersuits to settle suits filed by Creative against Apple over the iPod's interface. The settlement was announced late yesterday.

In essence, Apple has paid a large one-time license fee which is significant to Creative with a market capitalization in the hundreds of millions of dollars. However, such an amount does not present a difficulty for Apple's financial picture. The settlement allows both companies to escape from the prospect of accumulating huge legal bills. Apple may actually recoup some of its payment if Creative is successful in licensing their previously disputed patent to others.

Furthermore, the companies announced that Creative joined Apple's "Made for iPod" program and will be announcing their own iPod accessory products later this year.

"We're very pleased to have reached an amicable settlement with Apple and to have opened up significant new opportunities for Creative," said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative. "Apple has built a huge ecosystem for its iPod and with our upcoming participation in the Made for iPod program we are very excited about this new market opportunity for our speaker systems, our just-introduced line of earphones and headphones, and our future family of X-Fi audio enhancement products."

Looks to us like good news all around. More... [Bill Fox]