Writs fly as Aureal countersues Creative Technologies

Posted 7 April 1998 A Californian chip company has filed a counterclaim against Singapore firm Creative Technology. Aureal claims that Creative, and subsidiary E-MU Systems, intentionally interefered with its business prospects, defamed it, commercially disparaged it, engaged in unfair competition and acted fraudulently. Creative had claimed that Aureal had infringed a patent it holds concerning digital audio processing. But Aureal has said that it has reviewed both its and Creative’s patents and that the original action is without merit. Further, Aureal claimed that the purpose of the Creative lawsuit was to slow down its sales. The suit came days after Aureal had won business with its AU8820 chip, the company said. According to Kip Kokinakis, President and CEO of Aureal: "We would rather fight Creative in the marketplace, but they have chosen this venue to attempt to distract us from our progress in the market." ®