In announcing the legal action, ZapMedia said that the lawsuit “comes after multiple attempts” by the company “to resolve its concerns” with Apple.

ZapMedia says Apple infringed on two specific patents – No. 7,020,704 and No. 7,343,414. Both patents are titled, “System and method for distributing media assets to user devices via a portal synchronized by said user devices.”

ZapMedia applied for the patents in 1999. One patent was granted in March 2006, and another patent was granted March 11, 2008.

Yep, that’s right. One was granted this past Tuesday and ZapMedia announced their lawsuit the very next day.

ZapMedia’s infringement lawsuit against Apple is the latest example of companies suing over business method patents. Business method patents are often filed to protect a new process or method – water purification, for example. However, many business method patents do not actually introduce new technology. Instead, many business patents introduce new methods using existing technology.

ZapMedia’s patents detail a system where music is sold and distributed online from a central server to individual computers and personal music players, describing the iTunes process in general terms.

In announcing the lawsuit, ZapMedia says it met with several tech companies in the 1990s, including Apple, to discuss online music distribution methods. The announcement also mentions ZapMedia is seeking a resolution where Apple pays the company a licensing fee for the use of the patents.

“When someone takes our vision and our intellectual property without a license after several attempts, we have no option but to protect it through every means available to us,” said Robert J. Frohwien, general counsel for ZapMedia.