For all intents and purposes, Beats is on top of the world. The billion-dollar headphone company was recently acquired by Apple, with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine joining the tech giant in the process. Everything seemed to be going Apple’s way until Bose filed a legal complaint against Beats’ noise-canceling headphones.
Bose claims that with the noise cancellation technology, Apple is violating their patent. They claim that Apple is infringing on over 50 years of research and development that have 36 patents and applications protecting them.
In the complaint, as reported by Forbes, Bose stated, “To protect its investments, Bose has sought patent protection, and owns many patents and patent applications. Because Bose invests heavily in research and development, and because Bose has built its reputation on producing superior products through innovative technology, Bose’s continued success depends in substantial part on its ability to establish, maintain, and protect its proprietary technology through enforcement of its patent rights.” In addition the lawsuit makes reference to the current legal battle that Apple is in with Samsung.
The complaint specifies that the Beats headphones use the same technology used by the Bose QuietComfort 20 and Bose QuietComfort 20i. The patents Bose is claiming that Beats has violated include “Method and apparatus for minimizing latency in digital signal processing systems” and “Digital high frequency phase compensation.” They are U.S. patent numbers 6,717,537 and 8,345,888 respectively.
Bose is now seeking for an official ruling that states Beats stole its intellectual property. In addition, they are seeking an injunction that would put a stop to Beats’ infringement moving forward, and Bose wants to receive damages from the infringement. They have also requested the U.S. International Trade Commission to take a look into the matter as well.
