Ever heard of Premier International Associates? Neither have I.

But they do hold two U.S. patents (applied for 6,243,725 in 1997 and received as 6,763,345 in 2001) for what they filed as a 'List Building System'. I could take a moment to dissect the details of their two identical patents filed on two different dates, but the abstract definition within is quite simple to understand.

A system implementable using a programmable processor includes a plurality of pre-stored commands for building an inventory of audio, musical, works or audio/visual works, such as music videos. A plurality of works can be collected together in a list for purposes of establishing a play or a presentation sequence. The list can be visually displayed and edited. A plurality of lists can be stored for subsequent retrieval. A selected list can be retrieved and executed. Upon execution, the works of the list are presented sequentially either audibly or visually. The works can be read locally from a source, such as a CD, or can be obtained, via wireless transmission, from a remote inventory. If desired, establishment of a predetermined credit can be a pre-condition to being able to add items to the list for presentation.  

That's the definition of a playlist allright. Just like the ones developed by Microsoft, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Viacom, Real, Napster, Samsung, LG, Motorola, Nokia, and Sandisk, all of whom are named in one of the two law suits filed for patent infringement. Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Gateway, and Yahoo are named in the second, somewhat more absurd suit. The second suit accuses the defendants (Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, HP, Acer, and Gateway) of building computers that are capable of running Windows XP and or Windows Vista which is capable of running Windows Media Player (and other media players) that infringe upon the patent. I guess you could call it involuntary patent infringement in some distorted sense.

It quite has me sighing in disbelief. But what follows is leaving a bad taste in my mouth so to speak.

Premier International Associates doesn't have any notable company history other than that of filing lawsuits for patent infringement. Furthermore they don't manufacturer or produce any product(s) that are threatened by the infringement of their patent.

If it seems odd that Apple wasn't named in the suit(s), they've been down that raod before. Premier International sued Apple back in 2005 for patent infringement with regards to the playlists in their iTunes software and playlists for Apple iPod hardware. Oddly enough, Premier filled for a motion of dismissal in their suit against Apple around the same time they decided to sue everybody else. They said that the issue with Apple has been resolved and that "the matter has settled in its entirety and all necessary costs and expenses have been paid."

Steve Jobs cut 'em a deal on the iPhone, $200 dollars off.

In both of the cases filed, Premier has asked for a permanent injunctions against the companies involved to have them stop their continued infringement upon the patents. Premier would also like to have a trial by jury with all attorney fees and damages paid in full.

It's difficult to say what will happen. Previous patent infringement cases like this have been in some cases upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court while others have been tossed out. Premier International Associates may get nothing or may get something, or the companies involved will settle out of court and Premier will be able to continue their long standing business model of suing everybody to make a buck.

Hey, what about my play lists in Linux?