Microsoft patents Apple iPOD's Interface

Bloggers have dubbed Microsoft's move an "iPOD killer". If someone was talking bets, I'd wager that Apple never pays Microsoft a cent; bloggers and other tech pundits snickered at the prospect of Steve Jobs having to pay Bill Gates royalties on the beloved iPods. Back in 2002, Microsoft outraced Apple to the patent office to patent technologies that support the iPod's rotational wheel interface; after which it stated that it has a it has a long-standing policy of licensing its patents to others. Putting at stake the millions of iPods Apple has shipped. Fear not though Apple still has loads of options from a legal perspective; first Apple and Microsoft signed a five-year agreement in 1997 to share technology. When the deal expired in 2002, the music-player patents in question may have been covered. Second; this is not a supreme-court decision, Apple can file a declaration stating that it invented the technology before Microsoft filed its patent request, as evidenced by the fact that iPods were already on the market at the time. In such a case the patent office will have to start an investigation and determine who invented the technology. For more on this check: http://news.com.com/Microsoft,+Apple+in+iPod+patent+tussle/2100-1047_3-5830435.html