As FreeiPodGuy reported last December, Creative sued Apple over an alleged patent infringement, saying that the iPod menu interface was remarkably like the one described in a patent granted to Creative about a month before the iPod debuted. Apple counter-sued, Creative counter-counter sued, Apple counter-coun... you get the idea. At the end of the day there were five lawsuits on the table between the two companies, one of which, if successful, might have prevented Apple from importing iPods from their Chinese manufacturer into the U.S.

Reuters reports today that Apple has agreed to settle with Creative for $100 million.

So all the problems with Creative go away, Apple continues to make unholy amounts of money, Creative gets $100 million (which is a good deal for them since they can't seem to sell any mp3 players), and best of all, Apple gets a license to the interface patent.