Attorneys for Contois Music Technology and Apple will meet at a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the progress of the iTunes interface theft case and when it will be ready for trial. Contois filed a lawsuit against Apple over the user interface of iTunes in June of last year. The company is asking a judge to end the distribution of iTunes and is seeking unspecified damages and fees. Apple denies the allegations and is seeking reimbursement of its own legal fees.
“Apple has copied the invention,” reads the lawsuit. “Apple’s infringement has been and continues to be willful.” The complaint says that Contois showed its music software at industry trade shows in 1995 and 1996 in Nevada and California, and charges that Apple’s “current or future employees” viewed the software at those trade shows and later duplicated it. Contois filed for a patent on its software in 1996 and was granted the application in 1999.