We all know Bose for its high-quality sound systems and headphones. In fact, my Bose earphones were the best set of earphones that I ever owned. The small ear buds are more on the expensive side at about $100 – but well worth the investment for their crisp sound and noise-cancellation abilities. Bose Corp, a privately held company, recently filed a lawsuit against Beats for infringement of several patents that relate to noise-cancellation technology.
Beats signature headphones.
Image: Examiner.com
Beats was founded by famous rapper, Dr. Dre and music producer, Jimmy Lovine in 2006. Since then, Beats has really built a name for itself among fans – with their flashy advertising and unique headphone design (and we can’t forget the bright colors!).
The lawsuit was filed on Friday, in a Delaware court, stating that, “Beats had willfully infringed upon five of its patents, which Beats allegedly uses in its Studio and Studio Wireless line of headphones. Bose said it had lost profits and sales as a result.” They also filed another complaint with the ITC (International Trade Commission) which requests that Beats’ noise-cancellation headphones can no longer be imported to the U.S. from China.
In the lawsuit, Bose said that the “patents relate to the company’s ‘active noise reduction’ technology, first used in Bose products for the military in the 1980s and released for consumers in 2000.” Bose is going after Beats for unspecified damages. Apple Inc. agreed earlier this year to take over Beats for $3 billion. This is bad news for Apple since this would be another legal battle to take on – in addition to their existing patent wars with Samsung.
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones.
Image: Bose.com
If you would like to learn more about this suit it is listed as: Bose Corp v. Beats Electronics LLC and Beats Electronics International Ltd, in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 14-cv-00980
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Article Source: Reuters