SanDisk busted at IFA, forced to take down display DAPs

Now we've never actually manufactured a product ourselves, but if we had, and we were showing off said product at a major European trade show, we'd be mighty embarrassed if a bunch of lawyer-types showed up at our expensive booth and told us to stash the goods out of public view. Well apparently that's exactly what happened to Sansa-manufacturer SanDisk over the weekend at Berlin's IFA exhibition, after an Italian patent management company called Sisvel convinced a German prosecutor to issue an injunction against the US's number two DAP seller. No surprises here, but the beef that Sisvel has with SanDisk centers around certain MPEG audio patents that many big-name companies -- including Apple, Archos, and Creative, to name just three of over 600 -- have taken seriously enough to license, with SanDisk being the one notable exception. SanDisk and Sisvel are already locked in heated legal battles in several large countries, and until the courts pick a winner or SanDisk decides to pay up, Sisvel wants to make sure that they can only show pictures of their products at events like IFA -- not exactly the best way to impress potential buyers. If we were SanDisk in this situation, we might take a page out of iPod Shuffle knockoff manufacturer Luxpro's book -- you know, the ripoff artists who got busted by Apple legal at CeBIT -- and comply just long enough for the hired guns to leave the building, followed by a mad dash to put the players back up on their displays and put our big fake sales grins back on our faces.

[astutefool @ Sep 4th 2006 4:24PM]

iDont think anyone will be shedding any tears.

[DT @ Sep 4th 2006 5:29PM]

I, for one, welcome our robotic overlords.

[Ian Jardine @ Sep 4th 2006 5:46PM]

Why?
What have you got against SanDisk?

Dunno which side is right in the dispute, but it sounds as though a court should settle it and not one-off injuctions.

[tekdroid @ Sep 4th 2006 6:22PM]

I, for one, welcome our Open Source Overlords
http://www.vorbis.com
http://flac.sourceforge.net

hardware
http://www.cowon.com

;)

[German Taroco @ Sep 4th 2006 6:50PM]

Hey... this looks like a job from Jobs

[Fred Thompson @ Sep 4th 2006 7:56PM]

This is a no-brainer, remove the guts and leave the pre-printed plastic scratch protector on the displays. Play videos of the systems being used. Put up signs about being bullied by greedy patent lawyers. Play up the persecuted underdog theme.

[E71 @ Sep 4th 2006 11:00PM]

Heated battle? Go SanDisk!

[Anthony U @ Sep 5th 2006 12:15AM]

I wonder if Apple ever payed creative those royalties on their patented menu and music organziation systems

As to what the first guy has against Sandisk, aparently he didn't like Sandisks don't be a sheap compaign :)

[nikster @ Sep 5th 2006 3:32AM]

Those were not lawyers confiscating the gear, those were customs officials acting on behalf of the lawyers.

And if you know anything about customs officials, you don't want to mess with them. Those guys can also hold you without bail for extended periods of time. And they have rubber gloves.

More realistically, they can confiscate all your gear.

Anthony U: Apple just paid Creative $100M to be able to use their brilliant invention of organizing music by artist and album. In hierarchical folders!!! WOW. If only I had had that idea... but then, I guess I am not a genius like those geniuses at Creative. I wonder what they 'll patent next!? Disposable toilet paper?

[duke hafa @ Sep 7th 2006 4:03PM]

can't find that ! sign anywhere...