Personal Audio, LLC Goes After Apple Again

Apple's a huge target. No question about it. And patent trolls have a thing for going after monumental companies -- companies that they know will simply settle out if really put to the fire. We aren't making any accusations against Personal Audio, but after winning $8 million in a case against Apple related to playlists, the company is hitting back with a new lawsuit that now includes newer products. The original suit was filed in 2009, long before most of today's hottest Apple devices were on the market, and now they seem to be after yet another round of dough. They're returning to the same well yet again, so to speak.

PA has now filed  a new infringement suit (again in East Texas) accusing "the iPod Nano Generation 6, iPod Shuffle Generation 4, iPod Touch Generation 4, iPhone 4, and iPad 2". That's according to FOSS Patents, who have dug into the case to see what's really at stake. It's hard to predict an outcome, but the odds of PA winning again seem good. They're filing in the same place that they won before, and Apple's products haven't changed hugely over the past two years.


Will anything about Apple's products change due to this? It's not likely; more likely is that Apple will pony up again should they lose, PA will get richer, and things will keep on keeping on. Got to love litigation!