Apple faces Nike+ iPod patent lawsuit

And ten more cases

3 January 2007 10:35 GMT / By Amber Maitland

Apple is facing a number of class-action lawsuits in the US that were filed toward the end of last year.

Apart from the continuing investigation into stock option backdating allegations, Apple is also fighting off a case that claims Apple has created a monopoly by ensuring that the only portable device iTunes purchases can be transferred to the iPod.

The suit was filed by Melanie Tucker in a Californian US District Court, and Apple's motion to dismiss the case was denied. Tucker is asking that Apple be banned from supporting the iTunes/iPod tie in, and that it pay damages to any iPod owner who bought a device after 28 April, 2003.

Another suit, filed on 7 November, alleges that the iBook G4's logic board fails at an abnormally high rate, while a third, filed on 24 October by PhatRat Technology, claims that Apple violated its patents with the Nike+ iPod system.

Apple is facing a total of 11 lawsuits at the moment; Think Secret reports that one of them includes a complaint about the discoloration of the early white MacBooks, but that Apple has denied the allegations.