CNET News.com is reporting that E-Data has sued Microsoft, charging that the company’s new music download service in Europe infringes on a patent it owns that is nearly 20 years old. “The patent in question was granted in 1985 and covers the transmission of information to a remote point-of-sale location, where information is then transferred to a material object.” In this case, E-Data is referring to the general act of offering downloads of music over the Internet, which can be burned onto CDs. E-Data said the company’s patent expired in the U.S. in January, making Apple’s iTunes Music Store — which debuted in April — an unlikely target for an infringement suit.
