Inventor of music player takes a bite out of Apple; IPod maker settles patent suit with Lake Forest actuary.(News)(Advanced Audio Devices LLC )

Crain's Chicago Business, November, 2005 by Merrion, Paul

Byline: PAUL MERRION Having taken a bite out of Apple Computer Inc., Peter Keller's quest to capitalize on his broad patent on digital music players is starting to bear fruit. In late October, Apple, the California-based maker of iPods, whose ubiquitous white-corded earphones account for about 77% of the $2.5-billion U.S.

digital audio player industry, quietly settled a patent infringement lawsuit brought last March by Mr. Keller, the founder of Advanced Audio Devices LLC in Lake Forest, which has made prototypes of a digital player but never produced any for sale. The Apple settlement "validates what we're doing,'' says Mr. Keller, who co-invented the "Music Jukebox,'' U.S. Patent No. 6,587,403. "It shows we have intellectual property worth pursuing.''...

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