iTunes is the target of a new lawsuit

Apple is today finding itself on the wrong end of another lawsuit, with iTunes this time feeling the full force of America’s somewhat broken patent system. As is the done thing these days, someone claiming to own a patent that may be infringed upon by a large company is seeking damages for said infringement.

According to a report in Computer World, a man named Benjamin Grobler believes that iTunes, along with Sony’s PlayStation Network, infringes upon a patent he owns which covers a “data vending system.”

This system allows the central hosting of apps, movies or music, with information on what a customer has already purchased already also being part of the system. Sound familiar? Yup, that’s iTunes in the Cloud, then…

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, asks for a ruling that Apple infringed upon, and continues to infringe upon Grobler’s patent. Unsurprisingly, the patent owner is also asking for damages. Shocker.

The patent in question is No. 6,799,084, for those still playing along with “patent bingo.”

While the patent does appear to describe the kinds of features we have become accustomed to in both iTunes and the PlayStation Network, things are never quite as simple as that where a patent lawsuit is concerned. We’ll just have to wait and see where this one goes, but would you want to go up against both Apple and Sony at once?

We know we wouldn’t.