Demonstrating a rather amusing legal strategy, iPod shuffle knockoff maker Luxpro has levied a lawsuit against Apple for "attempted monopolization of the MP3 player market" as well as abusive tactics designed to eliminate competition in the marketplace. Beyond the facts that similar lawsuits have come and gone unsuccessfully over the past few years and that the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer chose a seemingly random Arkansas court in which to file the suit, there's also the small matter of Apple having previously won a 2005 injunction against the plaintiff regarding its then "Super Shuffle" player that looked rather suspiciously like Apple's Shuffle MP3 player (both pictured above). A German court granted the injunction, Luxpro changed the name of its product to the "Super Tangent," and continued selling the player. Apple eventually lost a long legal battle in Taiwan seeking to prevent Luxpro from selling the Super Tangent, with the latter company vowing to countersue for damages.

Call us crazy, but Apple's attempts to protect its intellectual property strike us less as "unfair competition" and more like logical response to theft of its ideas. Unless Luxpro can prove the Cupertino company sent in some sort of secret Black Ops division to Luxpro HQ, we're not convinced this one will go down in their favor. Regardless, the ball is in an Arkansas court (see what we did thar?).

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