Apple should pay a fine for infringing a design patent with the iPod

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The idea of the "Click Wheel" was already patented in Japan

A Japanese court ordered Apple to pay compensation of 330 million yen (3.2 million dollars) for infringing a patent on the design of the radio button included in his famous iPod music player. 


In a ruling made ​​public today, the high court of intellectual property in Japan states that the U.S. company infringed copyright registered in the country to use the device in a design that had been patented by a Japanese company.

The reason for the new judgment against Apple for this Japanese court is the "Click Wheel", the circular device that combines a sensor with multiple buttons and allows the user to perform various operations, such as playing a song or advance to the next track, a single finger.


Apple used the technology on their iPods sold in Japan since 2004, but a Japanese company had applied to patent a similar design in 1998.

Japanese courts have ruled in favor of the owner of the company, Norihiko Saito, who sued Apple for infringing its patent and requested compensation of 10,000 million yen (about 100 million). 

During the trial, Apple claimed that Pat Saito was not new as it had authorized several similar patents before 1998, as recorded by the Kyodo news agency. 


Apple imposed on compensation has been calculated taking into account its sales volume during the period affecting the litigation.