You aren't supposed to be able to patent an idea or concept but that is what software patents all too often do which is one of the reasons they are so awful. Fo

You aren't supposed to be able to patent an idea or concept but that is what software patents all too often do which is one of the reasons they are so awful. For instance this patent covers having a controller which presents a UI to raise, lower and mute/unmute the volume of a group of network attached speakers. When the user selects to do one of those things the controller communicates over the network to the group of speakers to raise, lower or mute/unmute their volume. The specific technology which implements this ability, i.e. how the controller communicates with the speakers, is not part of the patent. It is purely on having a controller which does the above however it may achieve it. Edit: Thought I would point out that when Sonos first filed their claims they made a big noise about Google using the same protocol as they to do to control their speakers. This protocol isn't covered by the patents in question. The reason is that the protocols in question are UPnP standard protocols.