Images: Creative's user interface
The company wins a patent covering user interface technology on digital music players--like those on Apple's iPod.
![bill-detwiler.png](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/af8b24752cf6b167db8b41c347e1940798e87431/2013/04/04/651150fe-1175-11e4-9732-00505685119a/bill-detwiler.png?auto=webp&fit=crop&frame=1&height=192&width=192)
![14527.jpg](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/3d66331796bbaf187b21a72bcfea271621c1cd08/2014/08/29/ae22c84f-2f59-11e4-9e6a-00505685119a/14527.jpg?auto=webp&width=1280)
1 of 4 Bill Detwiler/ZDNET
Music library
A patent awarded to Creative Technology governs the user interface that lets someone navigate the screens on a digital music player. Here, the image to the right is a close-up of the screen on the company's Zen Micro, seen at left. Clicking on "Artists" takes you to...
2 of 4 Bill Detwiler/ZDNET
Artists
...a screen listing the performers or composers. Creative says the "Zen patent" covers all nine generations of its digital media players.
3 of 4 Bill Detwiler/ZDNET
Albums
This screen lists albums by a given artist that are on the music player.
4 of 4 Bill Detwiler/ZDNET
Tracks
Listings by track for a particular album.
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