Lawsuit claims Apple TV infringes patents

EZ4Media, maker of wireless entertainment devices, has filed suit in Illinois Northern District Court against Apple claiming that the company’s Apple TV, AirPort Express, and Macintosh computers infringe on four of the company’s patents. Three of the patents in question relate to streaming digital media from a server to a device, while the fourth covers a method for transferring media content from the Internet to a computer which then wirelessly transmits the data to a TV for playback. Interestingly, each of the patents was obtained by EZ4Media from Universal Electronics earlier this year, and according to the complaint, Apple hired away three key members of Universal’s staff to work in its consumer entertainment during the development of the Apple TV. EZ4Media is seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting Apple from further acts of infringement, as well as “damages adequate to compensate it for the infringement that has occurred.”