Hop-on, a company that develops and markets wireless phones and accessories, has announced that it has successfully received a design patent on an Mp3 phone with speakers on the side, in addition to front and side buttons for the handset's camera and video features. As a consequence, the company plans to seek royalties for every such phone that was or is to be available on the market.

Mr. Michaels, President of Hop-on stated: "We look forward to the four major carriers, manufactures selling products and major retailers in the US to cooperate with Hop-on's past and future royalties of its design patent. Most MP3 flip phones on the market today have speakers on the side of the phones. We will be seeking royalties from previous and future sales of this design; there have been millions of similar phones sold on the market."

Such phones have been sold for some time now, and no one has thought of patenting this until now? Hop-on probably noticed that it could make a whole pile of money out of this and went on to grab the patent. What does this mean? Firstly, it's very likely that music mobile phones with side-mounted speakers will from now on come with a higher price tag.

If this won't happen, then we'll get to see another chain of lawsuits with an impressive number of companies involved. Hop-on also said that even service providers or retailers may have to pay their own royalties. While it is clear that the patent applies to nearly every flip-phone with music capabilities that was sold in the US, there's no mention on whether phones with other form factors will be affected.