Apple settles lawsuit with Intertainer

Apple Inc. settled a patent suit with online movie distributor Intertainer Inc. of Santa Monica.

Apple and Intertainer asked a federal judge in Marshall, Texas, to throw out the dispute over Intertainer’s patented video-distribution technology. Terms of the accord weren’t disclosed.

“They came to us with an offer and we thought it was acceptable,” Intertainer Chief Executive Jonathan Taplin said. “I am very happy.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is using movies to increase sales of video iPods and Apple TV, a device that transmits films from computers to widescreen TVs. Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple may add a movie-rental option to its iTunes service this month, Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Gene Munster said.

As part of the settlement, Apple got a nonexclusive license to use the technology, said Taplin, who’s also a professor at USC. Microsoft Corp. and Comcast Corp. had previously agreed to license the technology, he said.