German inventor Andreas Pavel has just settled a 20 year court battle with Sony over the origins of the Walkman, a device Pavel claimed to have patented in 1977. While Sony has spent the better part of two decades trying to ignore his claims of invention (despite the fact they paid him royalty fees for the first few years of the device’s life), Pavel’s near bankruptcy after a 3.7 million dollar court battle was finally rewarded by a confidential agreement in which Pavel was reportedly paid off to the tune of several million euros. Pavel, cock of the walk, is now planning to take a swipe at Apple, whose iPod has become the Walkman of this generation. Even better, Pavel has another patent in the wings: a 1989 US filing for a technology that combines the features of a portable audio player and a mobile phone. That patent will be decided on ‘soon.’
Read [Management.Silicon via Blues]
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