Sim Wong Hoo, chief executive at digital media player firm Creative, has told the BBC that he plans to " pursue aggressively" a US patent which it owns on a system used to navigate music on digital players.

"We will pursue all manufacturers that use the same navigation system," he said.

Creative was one of the first companies to sell a digital music player in 2000 but has lost significant market share to Apple's iPod.

In August, Creative won a patent in the US for the way music tracks are organised and navigated on a player through a hierarchical system using three or more screens.

Wong Hoo was in London for the launch of the Creative Zen Vision M in time for the Christmas rush.

He said that Creative, which is ranked number two in the market, will have shipped eight million MP3 players this year.

Apple shipped almost 18 million in the first three quarters of 2005, and is expected to ship over 22 million by year end.

The Zen Vision M is a direct competitor to Apple's iPod video with a similar look and feel. It has 30GB of storage, a 2.5in high-resolution screen and claims to have twice the battery life of the iPod.