iTunes, Starbucks Hit With Gift Card Lawsuit

A Utah couple acting as their own attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Apple and Starbucks over the retailers’ recent Song of the Day promotion, which offers Starbucks customers an iTunes gift card for a complimentary, pre-selected song download, a Slashdot post said this morning.

“In a seven-page formal complaint, James and Marguerite Driessen of Lindon, Utah say they developed in 2000, and were granted a patent in February 2006 for, an Internet merchandising utility dubbed RPOS (retail point of sale),” the post said. “The concept, which forms the heart of the infringement lawsuit, would allow gift cards for pre-defined items that can be sold at a brick-and-mortar store but used online; customers could redeem a card for a dining room set or a DVD, for example.”

Clearly we’re in the wrong business; while we have no idea if this particular law suit is credible of not, apparently there’s plenty of money to be made these days—just buy a company’s intellectual property and then sue everyone in sight.

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