Ringtones are Patented!?!?
August 30th, 2005 | by amarfresh |Today’s most ridiculous news story comes from Techdirt Corporate Intelligence. Apparently, patents were awarded in Israel, the United States, and Europe for recording and storing new tunes on cellular devices, and then playing them as ringtones.
What!!???!!
Haaretz.com reports that Siemens has already paid off the patent “owner” an undisclosed sum in return for dropping the lawsuit filed in Israel.
This was not the first lawsuit filed by Luzzatto against an electronics firm; he settled a lawsuit against Ericsson for a sum also bound by a confidentiality agreement.
Sources believe Luzzatto earned millions of shekels from the recent lawsuit. However, they believe Israel is just a training ground for larger lawsuits in Europe, with the most likely next target is Italy.
Not surprisingly, the patent owner is the son of a patent lawyer. I believe the term for these people in Hebrew is ganiff.